PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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October 12, 2017 Easton School District No. 28 P. O. Box 8 1893 Railroad Street Easton, Washington 98925 (509) 656-2317 fax (509) 656-2585 www.easton.wednet.edu Hello, my name is Patrick Dehuff and this is my tenth year as the Superintendent of Easton School District. I would like to share my concerns on the potential impact that the proposed Marian Meadows Development may have on Easton School District. Please consider the following points. • The proposed development will likely cause a substantial increase in the student population at Easton School, leading to overcrowding of the existing facility and an increase in personnel costs. On the SEPA, there is an estimate of 123 students if the development is approved. However, our current student population is 113 and has been ranging between 110 and 120. I estimate that there will be far more than 123 students in Easton School if this development is approved. • We are very limited in our ability to build onto our existing school because of a lack of availability of adjoining land and the costs of building a new school is substantial. • We did not qualify for matching state funds when we built the elementary wing of our school in 2001 and there are no guarantees or assurances that we will have matching state funds if we have to build another school. • We operate under a small schools funding formula and increases in student population can have a negative financial impact to a small district because the increased expenditures that come with a rising student population often exceeds any additional revenues that comes from having more students. • Last year, our previous business manager ran a financial simulation of adding 37 students. We would need to hire at least three more teachers and after accounting for the additional revenue of 37 students and subtracting the additional expenses, the district would be faced with a $100,000 budget deficit. This simulation only took into account the expenses of three additional teachers; there would also be an increase in the cost of transportation, including an additional bus (or buses), bus drivers, and facilities to house the extra buses.