Leavenworth school board approves $1.5 million budget package, moves some central services to closed Intermediate Center

The Leavenworth Unified School District board voted to adopt a budget-reduction package that includes a hiring freeze and a plan described as moving fifth- and sixth-grade configurations, a package district staff said would save about $1,500,000.

District staff warned the proposed hiring freeze would not affect positions paid from restricted funding such as capital, food service or federal grants and noted that special education is constrained by maintenance-of-effort rules, meaning some positions could remain ineligible for cuts. Staff also told the board it expects separations based on historical data and cautioned that a hiring freeze would reduce classroom and classified staff, which would affect students and current employees.

A board member moved to adopt "Option 5" from the budget-reduction decision sheet, citing the combination of the grade reconfiguration and hiring freeze as Decision 3; another board member seconded the motion and the board approved it.

Public commenters and community members reacted during patron input. Sarah Dyer, who addressed the board…