Superintendent warns of $12M shortfall, presents five‑year instructional leadership guide and balanced‑literacy approach

Superintendent Dr. Maloney told the board at the Dec. 9 meeting that Evergreen Public Schools is preparing for roughly a $12,000,000 budget reduction next year, attributing the shortfall to inadequate state funding, rising operational costs and declining enrollment driven in part by lower birth rates and housing affordability.

Dr. Maloney said the district’s chief financial officer presented an overview at the previous meeting and that the district’s budget committee will meet to review school funding and the district budgeting process. He described outreach and listening work with community‑based organizations on immigration, homelessness, belonging and postsecondary pathways and said those inputs are being used to identify actions the district has taken and further steps to consider.

In a Teaching, Learning & Equity update, Executive Director of Instructional Leadership Bobby Hite and elementary literacy specialist Leanne Steele described Evergreen’s balanced‑literacy framework. They said the district teaches explicit, systematic phonics daily and applies those skills in real reading and writing contexts, supported by materials and routines drawn from the Fountas & Pinnell (FPC) curriculum. Steele described a three‑part instructional structure (whole‑group, small‑group, individual practice) and noted the district has conducted GVC classroom visits—more than 500 classroom visits annually—and developed writer’s notebooks, phonics notebooks, updated scope and sequence materials, digital texts and professional development to support implementation.

Board members asked for a future workshop to examine culturally responsive elements of the literacy work—specifically multilingual learners and the use of Fountas & Pinnell—and staff agreed to return with more explicit content addressing those concerns at a later meeting (January 13 was mentioned as a follow up date for additional updates).