Kim Pedroza leaves as school district transportation director

La Conner Schools Transportation Supervisor Kim Pedroza is leaving the school district for a similar post with the Stanwood School District.

School Board President Susie Deyo formally recognized the many contributions Pedroza has made at the panel’s monthly hybrid meeting Friday morning.

Pedroza will be hard to replace, a point underscored by transportation staff member Randy Swift, who juggles driving, maintenance and classroom instructional assignments.

“Our coach has gone to Stanwood,” Swift lamented, “and we’re in the process of finding someone else. We need to have a varsity coach, not a JV coach. We need a great coach. My biggest concern is that we take our time and find somebody who’s pretty stellar.”

Complicating matters, said Swift, is that three district bus drivers are eligible to retire at the end of the school year.

“We’re trying to get newer and younger folks to come in here,” Swift said. “We have to get creative doing that.”

Brian Gianello, as director of finances and operations, updated a tough short-term district fiscal forecast. A combination of declining student enrollment, loss of COVID-19 emergency funding and a significant drop in anticipated federal impact aid monies will likely push the reserve funding balance below its goal of 10 per cent of budget expenses, he said.

Board member J.J. Wilbur, who serves on the Swinomish Tribal Senate and is a Fire District 13 commissioner, said the drying up of pandemic revenue is affecting governmental entities.

“This isn’t the only budget I look at,” he said. “Without COVID money, we’re back to reality.”

La Conner’s K-12 student population has dropped from around 600 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to 530.

“The good news,” Gianello allowed, “is we’re holding around 530. That seems to have stabilized.”

Gianello said declining enrollment is not unique to La Conner, though the desirability to live here and resulting increased cost of living makes it less affordable for families with school age children.

“Most districts around the state are experiencing something similar,” Gianello said.

The problem, noted board member and legislative liaison John Agen, is that there’s no easy fix to the student enrollment issue.

“It would be great to increase our student population,” he said, “but that’s not going to happen overnight.”

The alternative, though, isn’t attractive.

“Cost cutting would be painful,” Agen said.

Wilbur said it even more imperative that the district take measures to boost enrollment.

The district has considering marketing to families of children graduating from parochial or non-aligned middle schools, such as Conway, and study reasons students residing in the district opt to enroll elsewhere.

“We need to get these kids back,” said Wilbur.

Still, Gianello expressed at least guarded optimism that the district will eventually receive about half of the $500,000 federal impact aid shortfall through disbursement adjustments. The district might tap into a portion of the $850,000 it received from the state for Braves mascot logo removal.

The board approved $3,000 for the Wahkiakum School District for its litigation to extend the McCleary Act mandate for equal education funding to include capital construction projects.

“This would be big for us in La Conner if they win,” Deyo said.

“It’s hard for taxpayers in small districts to raise capital funds,” board vice president Lynette Cram pointed out.

Wahkiakum has repeatedly seen bond measures designed to upgrade aging buildings and infrastructure fail at the polls. Deyo and Cram said that proportional school construction costs are much higher for Wahkiakum School District taxpayers than for those residing in more affluent areas such as Issaquah.

Also, Deyo, Cram and Agen were re-elected to their respective board leadership positions.