Campus security employee and supporters tell Yelm Community Schools board layoffs threaten campus safety

Will Gunstrom, a campus security employee, told the Yelm Community Schools board that he and his partner have been laid off under the district's staffing reductions and urged trustees to consider safety implications. "The superintendent or the board has made a decision to go ahead and lay myself and Matt off from campus security," Gunstrom said during public comment, adding that he and his partner had repeatedly reported concerns up the chain of command.

Gunstrom listed complaints he said had gone unresolved, including alleged deficiencies in administrator training, the loss of the district's only certified active‑shooter instructor and a recent burglary and data breach he said campus security had investigated. "We filed a police report that the community's information was compromised," he told the board, and asked whether the community had been informed.

Tinstrom, identified in the record as a comprehensive learning center teacher and the spouse of a laid‑off security employee, echoed those concerns and described equipment and vendor problems she said her family had flagged: keypad readers installed in incomplete patterns, cameras pointed at ceilings or otherwise misinstalled, and vendors who were not supervised to ensure installation quality. "We're laying off campus security but there's two ops at the district office and OSS," she said, questioning how facilities and emergency response will be managed without dedicated security staff.

Superintendent Woods addressed the district's fiscal situation earlier in the meeting and framed the staffing reductions as part of a larger package of cuts. He told the board the district needs to reduce roughly $6 million over the coming year and a half and presented Resolution 08‑25‑26 as the step to accomplish part of that reduction. "We're needing to cut between the start of 2026 and through the end of the 26‑27 school year about $6 million," he said in his presentation to the board.

Board members did not reverse the staffing decisions at the meeting. The exchange highlighted a central tension at the session: community members and district staff raising safety and vendor‑oversight concerns tied to specific operational tasks, while the administration said large, systemwide budget shortfalls require difficult personnel reductions.

The board adopted the resolution implementing the additional reductions later in the meeting. The motion carried; the transcript record shows no roll‑call tally was provided during the public audio for the motion on the reduced education plan.

Next steps: affected employees were placed on recall lists described by the district, and the board indicated it will continue efforts to minimize impacts where possible. Public commenters said they planned to follow up with documentation they said they had already submitted to the district.