The Waterloo Schools Board of Education approved an $8 million cut in expenses for the next fiscal year. The cuts include nearly $4 million in staffing, more than $3 million in salaries, and just over $1 million in programs. All employee salaries will be frozen for a year and 46 positions will be eliminated. A third of those positions are instructional coaches. Building and district administrators, district level staff, teachers, counselors, and librarians will also be affected. This is the final stage of a three year plan, which cut a total of $23 million. The plan originally called for $6million for next year but the loss of 270 students and the corresponding decline in per-pupil state aid changed that. Superintendent Jared Smith says four main factors led to the $23 million deficit: State funding did not keep up with operational costs, a 7% drop in student enrollment over 10 years while the number of English language learner and special education students saw significant increases, higher than normal inflation rates during recent years, and the end of COVID-19 pandemic funding that supported new positions and higher salaries. Smith says he is proud of how Waterloo Schools has handled the deficit, especially in comparison with districts like Cedar Rapids, which is closing schools.
