Cuts to paraeducator positions protects the classroom programs from cuts, officials say.

Paraeducator hours, after-school club stipends and one administrative position were among the casualties as the school board Thursday approved $418,134 worth of budget cuts.

The cuts were made to counter an unexpected drop in enrollment that reduced the district’s revenue, which is largely determined by the actual number of students who attend classes.

“Finding $418,000 in cuts in an already lean budget is not easy whatsoever,” district Superintendent Ken Crawford said. “There’s no way to do this without having to create some amount of distress and discomfort.”

Both Crawford and school board members stressed the importance of choosing cuts that would impact classrooms the least. That meant making small reductions in several areas, as opposed to broad cuts in only a few.

Some of the burden – $105,000 – will be eased by having fewer students to educate. The district budgeted for 34 additional students this year and had reserved the money for staffing and other costs that will no longer be necessary.

The next biggest chunk – $83,104 – comes at the expense of the district’s director of operations and maintenance, who will be laid off and whose duties will be dispersed among the rest of the administrative staff.

A reduction in hours for paraeducators, a group that includes library staff, will save the district $66,985, but will also reduce library, technology and teacher and student support.

The move will cut roughly one hour per week per paraeducator, but that hour could be made up elsewhere for those willing to fill other small roles that the district budgeted for, but has not yet hired staff to fill.

For example, a library staff person at Wilkes Elementary would spend one less hour per week in her normal librarian role, but could make up that hour at Ordway Elementary as a playground supervisor.

Shifting the duties of existing employees rather than hiring new ones will minimize lost wages and save the district money. That is made possible by the fact that the district typically waits until well into the school year to fill many of the smaller paraeducator positions.

Jobs that require a specialized skill, such as the open percussion teacher position in the high school music program, will likely remain unfilled. So too will an open teaching position – worth $28,872 – at the high school.

After-school club stipends will be reduced by 25 percent, saving $21,873. The move could lead to participation fees or third party support for some after school activities, which absent such funding would likely be eliminated.

Other cuts include replacing an annual administrative retreat with in-district training ($6,000 savings), curtailing or eliminating some summer cleaning and preparation ($13,000), and closing the district from July 2 to July 6 ($15,800), requiring 260 employees to apply unused vacation days for that period.

“We’re getting right to the bone,” said board President Bruce Weiland. “The goal was to make lots of little cuts instead of big gashes. We tried to keep the cuts out of the classroom.”

That meant protecting class sizes, which will not be impacted by the reductions. The district also aimed to “protect an unrestricted and unreserved ending fund balance of no less than 3 percent.” Officials hope doing so will help prevent a similar budget crunch next year.

The deficit in the $34.1 million budget arose following last month’s announcement that enrollment in Bainbridge schools had for the first time declined. Down 58 students – for which the district would have received about $4,700 each – and 92 students below what they projected, officials were left scrambling to make up the difference.

Reasons for the drop in enrollment are unknown, though several districts across western Washington have experienced similar unprecedented declines.

Locally, the biggest single impact was the departure of 134 students whose families moved off the island over the summer.

Since the last board meeting, the district has gained three students, but is still well below projections.