On Jan. 30, the Camas School District (CSD) announced its decision to implement a Reduction in Force (RIF) resolution. The decision comes as part of CSD’s efforts to reduce spending across the district.
“In the coming months, we will be taking steps to reduce staffing levels across the district,” CSD Superintendent John Anzalone wrote in an email regarding the decision.
The measure comes after CSD’s decision to close the district copy center, a measure which will save an annual $200,000. However, with COVID-19 relief funds running low, decreasing enrollment levels, and a loss of revenue, cutting the copy center was not enough. CSD still needs to reduce expenditures by 10-12%, or about $13.3-15.6 million.
“We started with a community survey seven months ago and we started to get information [about] where the community’s priorities are,” Anzalone said. “Most of the time, we try to keep the cuts as far away from programs as possible, but also as far away from the classroom as possible.”
The district began by looking at staff members who do not work directly with students.
“We started looking at the central office, people who work directly with me,” Anzalone said. “We ended up finding 29% of our office staff that we will be letting go at the end of their contract.”
The district then examines building personnel such as administrators, before finally looking at teachers and other employees who work with students.
According to Anzalone, CSD will relocate most employees affected by the RIF measure to another position in the district. This is determined by how long a teacher has worked in the district.
“If [a teacher] has less seniority than [another teacher], then that teacher [will be relocated],” Anzalone said. “That keeps going like a domino effect until we get to [the amount of] positions we need [to cut].”
Enrollment levels in CSD elementary schools have plummeted since 2020, yet Camas High School (CHS) enrollment levels are roughly the same. Anzalone maintains that CSD must approach enrollment issues from a district standpoint rather than individual schools.
“Because we have lower enrollment in elementary school, those kids are going to be in middle school and then they’re going to be at CHS,” Anzalone said. “We have to project that CHS is going to [have] lower enrollment in a couple of years.”
“Every single person is very special to us… so none of [this is] easy,” Anzalone said. “I’ve been there before as a teacher—it’s not fun and it’s very tough. But it’s impossible to get around if you don’t have the enrollment coming in.”
Although difficult for many, CSD assures the RIF measure is necessary for schools like CHS struggling with budget deficits.
“Our commitment to students remains unwavering in the face of these challenges,” Anzalone said. “We will continue providing high-quality education and working together to navigate these difficult changes.”
CSD values community input in all its decisions and encourages those with questions or concerns to contact the district.
Update: In an email sent out Feb. 7, CSD announced that affected district office staff members and school administrators across the district had been notified of a change in their position. CSD did not provide further information regarding which staff members were affected out of respect for their privacy.
