Battle Ground Public Schools plans to cut more than 130 positions

BATTLE GROUND - Battle Ground Public Schools plans to cut 137.2 positions to address a $20 million budget deficit, which district leaders largely blame on a triple levy failure and lack of adequate state funding.

The school board approved a resolution Monday authorizing staff reductions for the 2026-27 school year. The cuts are being made after a replacement educational programs and operationslevy failed to pass for a third time in February.

Combined with a previous staff reduction ahead of the 2025-26 school year, Battle Ground has cut 268.3 positions, or 16 percent of all staff, dating back to 2024-25.

Superintendent Shelly Whitten said the resolution is the first step in a process that remains fluid, noting the May 15 statutory deadline to notify certificated staff of the reductions in force, before the final budget will be adopted in August.

She also acknowledged the human element of making those difficult decisions.

"Those are people. ... Those are individuals in our community that will be without employment. Those were individuals that were in our buildings making a difference for kids," Whitten said while fighting back tears. "While this is a necessary step, it is a difficult step. ... Our district cares deeply for its staff, for its students and our community."

The majority of positions to be cut, totaling 70.7 full-time equivalents, are building-based staff. High school teachers will be cut by 23.2 full-time equivalents; middle school teachers by 13; primary school teachers by 11.5; counselors by nine; multilingual teachers by six; and building administrators by six. According to the district, the deepest cuts were among administrators, with an 18 percent reduction.

Michelle Reinhardt, the district's executive director of human resources, said the cuts will mean larger class sizes at the middle- and high-school levels, and fewer course offerings and electives.

Additional building-based positions to be cut that are not full time include 17 social-emotional support room paraprofessionals, eight instructional support paraprofessionals, five prevention and intervention specialists, and six library technicians.

The cuts also include 8.5 full-time equivalents among administrative and central office staff.

Athletics and extracurricular activities also face cuts, with the elimination of the middle school activities budget, reductions in busing for athletic competitions and an increase in sports participation fees of $150 per sport.

Certain employee groups face salary reductions through unpaid furlough days. All classified staff are slated to have 5.5 unpaid days; all central office administration will have three unpaid days; and there will be two unpaid days for all building principals, assistant principals, deans, administrative support and certificated staff.

Approximately 85 percent of the district's costs are related to staffing, and the rest are operating expenses, Whitten said. The budget for the 2025-26 school year was $239.2 million.

District weighs feedback

Battle Ground held multiple community forums and online surveys to gather feedback on how to proceed with budget cuts.

Whitten said the district prioritized five areas that were most frequently mentioned by community members: student safety and well-being; core academic instruction; support for vulnerable students; student engagement opportunities; and college and career preparation.

Another consistent theme of the feedback was to make reductions rather than eliminate entire programs that students relied upon.

One program affected by cuts is the Center for Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Education (CASEE), a half-day STEM program for high school students with an integrated curriculum in science and English at an 80-acre outdoor learning lab.

Several public comments at Monday's meeting mentioned CASEE, including those from teacher Jessica Molskness, who said junior students learned earlier in the day they won't be able to complete the program as seniors.

"It's a hard thing for them to accept," Molskness said. "We have students from all over. They come to us in our little, safe community, in our own little CASEE ecosystem. ... They started in my class at the bottom of the food chain, and now they don't get to reach the top. And that is heartbreaking."

Later in the meeting, board member Lorri Sibley asked Whitten for clarification on why the program is being eliminated for incoming seniors.

Whitten said the decision isn't 100 percent final, but the small class size was a factor.

"They have 11 students in that program, and we've set staffing levels much higher than 11 students to run any class," Whitten said. "So we would be treating that group different than any other place in the district should we run it. And that doesn't mean we won't."

Failed levies

While other districts in the region face similar budget cuts, Whitten said Battle Ground is in a somewhat unique position because it has a healthy fund balance but no levy. Ninety-seven percent of districts statewide have a levy in place, Whitten said.

"We're not in a situation where we're making cuts to rebuild our fund balance," she said. "Some of our neighbors are having to do that.

Their reductions are related to the fact that they have declining enrollment, and they have too low of a fund balance that they don't have the right level of cash flow. That's not us. Ours is all levy related."

And it's an issue that voters will likely have to decide on again in the future, Sibley said.

"No matter what the state does, I don't think levies are going away," she said. "We really need the community to step up and help us out, so we're not here again."

Board member Debbie Johnson made an appeal for students and families to stay in the district so that it can grow and, in turn, receive more funding.

"I would just encourage them to not give up and not leave us," she said. "That would be the hope and the community has the power in that. ... We can have an influx of new students, which would be really, really great."

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