Coupeville school board approves $1.1 million cuts, may eliminate six jobs

Coupeville families could soon see fewer adults in classrooms, longer cafeteria lines and thinner office support after the school board approved $1.1 million in cuts that may eliminate as many as six jobs across the district’s four schools.

The unanimous vote on May 1 came with teachers, staff, parents and students packed into the room, turning a budget meeting into a warning about what next year could look like inside Coupeville Elementary School, Coupeville Middle School, Coupeville High School and Coupeville Open Academy. The district serves about 1,030 students from preschool through age 21, so even a small number of position cuts can ripple across a system that runs on close daily contact.

The reductions reach far beyond one department. Teachers, para-educators, janitors, food service workers and secretaries are all in the mix, and union leaders said the plan appears to protect central administration while putting the heaviest burden on the people closest to students. If a para-educator slot disappears, the impact will likely be felt in reading help, behavior support and special education services. If a food service job goes away, parents may notice it first in the cafeteria line, where fewer staff can mean slower service and less flexibility during the lunch rush.

Coupeville Education Association Co-President Katja Willeford said student enrollment has stayed relatively stable for years while certificated staffing has kept shrinking. Shelly LaRue of the Coupeville Educational Support Association said the cuts hit the district’s lowest-paid employees, the ones with the most student contact. Their criticism landed in a district already struggling with morale.

A staff survey organized by the two unions and summarized by Washington Education Association UniServ director Nick Lawrie drew 88 anonymous responses. Union leaders said at least 15 staff members had resigned, retired, been demoted or otherwise left the district in less than two years, and some employees said colleagues stayed silent because they feared retaliation. The survey also singled out Coupeville Elementary School Principal Erica McColl for overwhelming praise, a reminder that the pain of the district’s strain is not spread evenly.

The May 1 vote echoed a similar move a year earlier, when the board also approved a modified education plan to reduce programs and staff. That 2025 plan called for cutting up to eight certificated full-time equivalent positions, eliminating the assistant food service director role and restructuring it, while the district’s fund balance remained below the 6 percent level required by policy.

Coupeville’s latest cuts are part of a broader squeeze. District budget materials say more than 88 percent of expenditures go to staffing and benefits, and the district is facing declining enrollment and rising operating costs for the 2026-27 school year. Statewide enrollment has fallen by about 9,000 students in a recent year, underscoring that Coupeville’s reductions are not an isolated move but part of a longer financial squeeze that could keep reshaping classrooms well beyond next fall.