Selah Schools Hoping to Keep Teachers

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Story Published: Jan 29, 2010 at 6:35 PM PDT

By Melissa Wagner

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Selah - The ballots are out. And many school districts are hoping you'll vote yes on a replacement levy.

We've looked at a number of levy issues this week, and tonight found out why Selah Schools can't afford to lose another teacher.

" We have seven fewer teachers in the classroom this year compared to last year," said Mark Chestnut, Selah Superintendent.

That's because the state cut 3% from the Selah School District budget. This year, it could be worse, it the replacement levy doesn't pass.

Chestnut said, " We'd really be in bad shape if we lost 15 percent of our budget."

Teachers have certainly felt the affects of losing those seven teachers here last year in the selah school district. They're hoping they don't have to go through it again.

" I can't even imagine it," said 5th grade math teacher, Katie Littleton.

Littleton's class is up to 30 students now, because there aren't enough teachers at the middle school. She's finding it hard to meet all the needs of her students.

She said, " They lose out on individual attention, the kids that really need the help fall through the cracks."

And, she says, the more advanced kids also lose out on the chance to work on projects and things with higher level thinking skills. She's doing all she can to pick up the slack, even staying after school longer hours to help kids struggling in math. But she's worried it won't be enough.

And the Superintendent is too. Based on more state budget cuts that will be announced in march, " The ironic thing is, even if we pass our levy we're going to have to reduce staff next year."

Even as enrollment continues to climb. The district has about 100 more students this year than in 2008. More kids and fewer teachers. It's a formula the district is hoping to begin to solve with this levy.

More than half of the levy money goes toward Student Educational Support. Meaning reduced class size, advanced programs, para educators and more. Remember, your ballot must be post marked by February 9th for it to count.

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