Change is the name of the game at the Kent School District administrative offices this summer.

There is a reorganization under way while the district school board prepares to adopt a final budget in late August that includes change through cuts in staff, programs and a number of other areas.

The Kent School District serves students in Covington.

This budget process is year-round, explained school board President Debbie Straus.

At the Aug. 11 meeting the board will be presented with a preliminary budget with the expectation it will be passed Aug. 28, according to the district’s new Chief Business Officer Richard Stedry, who started July 19.

District staff gathered input from more than 1,600 participants in a public survey, according to information on the school district’s website, www.kent.k12.wa.us.

“Staff prepares recommendations for the board,” Straus said. “One of the things they looked at while they were doing preparations was how things fit in with the board goals and what would have the least impact on student achievement and student learning.”

Work began in fall 2009 by district staff and continued until March 31 when Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas presented a preliminary list of budget reduction options to the board of directors.

“Similar to districts across the state and the nation, Kent School District is also experiencing many changes and challenges,” Vargas said in an e-mail sent to district staff. “Our school board has faced the task of difficult budget decisions while keeping the needs of our students and staff at heart with caring grace, compassion and courage.”

The school board also received comments on the budget at an April 12 meeting at Kentwood High and approved a plan for final budget recommendations to close a $9.5 million gap on April 14.

Decisions to cut certificated staff had to be made in the spring in order to notify those impacted by May 15.

“We wish that we wouldn’t have to make any cuts at all,” Straus said. “We would much rather offer enhancements.”

In the final budget recommendations, a total of $5.4 million in changes were suggested to cut staff, programs, as well as reduce costs through energy conservation and streamlining operations.

Staff cuts included eliminating high school transportation support staff, an assistant principal at Kent Phoenix Academy, central office athletic department staffing, a full time equivalent information technology administrative assistance and assistant principals at three of the district’s four high schools. There were two positions added at two of the larger high schools.

The district also eliminated middle school baseball and fastpitch programs while instituting a pay-to-play program for middle school sports.

“Part of the reasoning for that is we have a few (middle) schools that were having a difficult time even fielding teams,” Straus said. “The other thing that was taken into consideration was that there were considerable community organizations that children could get involved in. It was a hard decision, as well, to see we were going to have to go to pay-for-play.”

Music took a hit, too, with the district eliminating fifth grade band and orchestra as well as reducing other aspects of music programs by offering advances placement music less frequently, reducing instrument repair and replacement, eliminating seventh and eight grade music contests and sixth through 12th grade music festivals.

Another significant area of savings is the reorganization of the administrative positions with a projected cumulative savings of $886,830 coming from reducing central administrator office positions and reorganizing functions.

“One of the energies and things that Dr. Vargas brings is a real commitment to student achievement,” Straus said. “It doesn’t really do any good to have administrators sitting in an office who don’t have any contact with schools. So, we’re switching to a model where we’ll have school improvement officers … who will actually be working in the schools.”

This means there will be fewer people at district headquarters with the move from having assistant superintendents overseeing various areas of district operations to having a handful of core administrators with wider responsibilities.

Instead, there will be “people who are out in the schools making more of an impact,” Straus said.

Vargas initiated a shift from a model where there were assistant superintendents and directors.

“With budget challenges come opportunities, so we’ve reduced central office expenditures by eliminating some positions and consolidating and restructuring others to do our work better by doing it differently,” Vargas said.

Linda Del Giudice, chief accountability officer, said the district had long been using a traditional model with three executive directors for the schools who worked with and evaluated principals as part of their duties.

“Those positions were eliminated completely,” Del Giudice said. “They were replaced by a position called school improvement officer. We’re building a different kind of model.”

School improvement officers will report directly to Merri Rieger, chief officer of student achievement, and will work with teams of instructional improvement specialists in subjects like math, science and writing.

“The object of these teams is to go to the schools, to work with the principal and staff… to work with them on curriculum and instruction to help students meet standard,” Del Giudice said. “What we’ve got now is a support team model. It’s a direct district support to the schools.”

This is a model that Vargas is particularly enthusiastic about.

“We’re excited about bringing the school support team approach to our district as this model moves instructional staff and resources from the central office closer to the schools,” Vargas said. “This approach also demonstrates shared accountability for the success of all students as required under the No Child Left Behind Act.”

In other areas of the central administrative office a number of positions were combined.

For example, Del Giudice said, there was an executive director of instructional services and an executive director of curriculum.

“One retired, the other was eliminated,” Del Giudice said. “The two positions were combined into the director of standards based instructional services.”

This position has not yet been filled, but will oversee the district’s new approach to helping students do well on the state’s standardized tests.

Ultimately the changes made at the district come in part from necessity due to budget constraints but also with the hope that it will help Kent students achieve.

“We want more of our students to do well and to succeed and to go onto college,” Del Giudice said. “Every child should succeed.”