Moving back to half-day kindergarten, employing half-time elementary school counselors, reducing classified staff and eliminating sixth-grade camp and the elementary swim program were a few of the cost-saving recommendations district officials were expected to present to the Enumclaw School Board Monday night.

The Enumclaw district, like others in the area, is facing the double whammy of decreasing enrollment and decreasing state funding. Superintendent Mike Nelson anticipates those two factors – coupled with increases in everything from food and fuel to salaries and benefits – will force the district to reduce its 2009-10 budget by $2.1 million, approximately 5 percent of the district’s anticipated total.

“These are cuts we don’t want to make,” Nelson said. “They represent valuable people and valuable programs.”

The district announced the cuts at a budget workshop March 9 and followed them up with school-by-school announcements and a posting on its Web site.

Six years ago, the district went to a free full-day kindergarten program with an expanded curriculum funded through Initiative 728 money. Districts across the state are anticipating huge losses in the voter-approved state I-728 funds. Half-day kindergarten is considered basic education funding but its full-day counterpart is not. The Enumclaw School District will offer a full-day kindergarten program, but it will be fee-based at $250 a month for a 10-month period, September through June. The move is expected to save the district nearly $500,000.

The remaining $1.35 million in kindergarten through 12th-grade system reductions include changing the counselors at the district’s five elementary schools from full-time to half-time status. Nelson said the move was a tough decision with so many families in distress and students in need of counseling.

Library assistants and instructional educational assistance will also see their time cut in half, saving the district about $95,000. Community members can also expect school offices to be open one week less during the summer.

Middle and high school class sizes will increase, saving the district from staffing at least three teaching positions.

Enumclaw High School will take a hit in the reduction of three teacher on special assignment (TOSA) positions. Those teachers, who were released during the school day to concentrate their efforts on special district outlined areas, will return to the classroom. EHS will also lose its athletic director position with the plan for those duties to be absorbed by administrative staff.

The long-standing traditions of sixth-grade camp and the elementary swim program are also part of the reductions.

Literacy Camp, the summer reading program that began 11 years ago with a corporate sponsor, has been slowly eating into the district budget the past few years despite its tuition-based concept. The district will continue to offer the program, but it must pay for itself.

Nelson said exact staffing losses have not yet been calculated, but he anticipates they will be double-digit figures. District leaders are working with the teachers’ and classified employees’ unions at this time. Those whose positions are most likely in jeopardy have been notified. The district has a contractual deadline of May 15, but is trying to give employees who are affected an opportunity to begin looking for work elsewhere.

Also on the list will be reductions to all system administration departments, this means facilities, special education and a reduction of two days from the superintendent’s contract. Also part of these reductions will be the high school late start, the leadership team’s out-of-area workshop and the district’s recent opening-day-of-school celebration. These reductions are expected to save the district $337,300.

Aligning staff with enrollment and programs will likely save another $318,200.

A community meeting is planned for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the EHS library for those interested in learning more.