Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Chris Woods, Yelm Community Schools (YCS) superintendent, confirmed during a board of directors meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20, that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) would be present during an upcoming board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2025.
Woods noted that OSPI will attend the board meeting in January as part of the financial oversight process.
“I do want to remind folks about binding conditions, because what’s different about this time, with our budget cuts, is our district is not operating alone in this process any longer,” Woods said. “Now, what happens is we move into what’s called financial oversight. Denise (Hendrickson) was on the call, in the meeting, last week with OSPI and ESD. That is a regular quarterly meeting. I am also meeting weekly myself with OSPI and ESD (Educational Service District 113) to discuss very specific budget issues and plans moving forward.
“That has to be a very specific step in the process where they have to accept our new binding conditions, and enter into financial oversight,” Woods continued. “Financial oversight is where they identify a committee that takes a closer look at our finances — which is already happening. Once that committee is developed, in addition to the folks from OSPI and ESD, they then work in collaboration with us as we move forward.”
Additionally, Woods noted that OSPI and ESD do not have authority over the cuts made by YCS. With that, the superintendent said the two agencies will be actively involved in the process and in making budget recommendations.
“The plan is not our plan alone,” Woods said. “We already have some very concrete ideas of where cuts need to be made, in addition to other cuts that will be made in the end. Given the magnitude of the cuts that need to be made, everything will have to be on the table. There is no area of our district that we are not looking at, and that includes immediate cuts and future cuts.”
In addition to the financial oversight committee, Woods said YCS, OSPI and ESD will create a 24-month plan to get out of the financial oversight status. He noted this will not be done in isolation, and that the district would work closely with the two agencies to accomplish the 24-month plan.
“We are also very aware that there are some cuts that will need to be decided upon before Jan. 22. That’s where you as a board, in the coming board meetings, are going to need to make some decisions, because we do have some things that are time sensitive as far as expectations and impacts beyond our school district,” Woods said. “We’ll continue talking about that and scheduling additional study sessions to specifically just talk about that.”
Additionally, Woods addressed the sudden resignation of the former YCS Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jennifer Carrougher. Her resignation became official on Thursday, Oct. 9, during a school board meeting inside Yelm High School’s library. Up until the YCS Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20, no official comment was made regarding her resignation. Nisqually Valley News reached out to Woods for comment regarding Carrougher’s resignation on Sunday, Oct. 12, but did not receive a response.
“In addition to that, our CFO resigned,” Woods said, on Thursday, Nov. 20. “We are working with ESD as our business manager in the meantime, which actually works very well in conjunction with our financial situation. They are already intimately involved in day to day operations, in all aspects of our district. The partnership actually is good timing for us to have them very involved in the day-to-day operations.”
