The Evergreen Public Schools Administrative Service Center (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)
Evergreen Public Schools plans to go without athletic directors at all four comprehensive high schools beginning next school year.
Athletic director positions at Evergreen, Heritage, Mountain View and Union high schools are among the job cuts for the 2023-24 school year to address the district’s $19.1 million budget deficit, according to the Recommended Budget Reduction Plan released to staff late Tuesday afternoon.
In a districtwide email sent to all employees Tuesday that was obtained by The Columbian, Superintendent John Boyd said he plans to outline the proposed plan to cut $19.1 million next school year at the March 14 regular school board meeting. The cuts are mostly staffing at the district’s central office and at elementary, middle and high schools.
“These staff members will be greatly missed,” Boyd wrote in the email. “I also realize that staff reductions will force the rest of us to do more with less. I know that it won’t be easy but, I am confident we can work together to provide our students with the educational experience they deserve.”
The district said the projected budget deficit is caused by multiple factors, including reduced student enrollment, and the expiring of one-time state and federal resources from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, district spokesperson Craig Birnbach said Tuesday.
Eliminating athletic director positions is expected to save the district a combined $710,000. The high school athletic directors — Christian Swain (Evergreen), Jason Castro (Heritage), Adam Mathieson (Mountain View) and Jamal McKenzie (Union) — were notified Monday their positions are slated to be eliminated, The Columbian learned. An extra twist is that ADs at three of the four high schools also are head coaches at their schools. Mathieson and Swain are Mountain View’s and Evergreen’s head football coaches, respectively, and Castro is Heritage’s first-year baseball coach. Extracurricular coaching contracts are separate from administrative contracts.
Last spring, athletic director positions also were part of the district’s proposed cuts had the educational programs and operations levy not been passed by voters on April 26, 2022.
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