Broyles discusses Umpire closure recommendations

By Patrick Massey

WICKES - The Cossatot River School Board is scheduled to meet this week to decide the future of its Umpire K-12 campus.

The meeting will take place Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Cossatot River Primary School cafeteria. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.

Superintendent Tyler Broyles said the recommendation to close the campus is due to enrollment that has consistently dropped over the past few years, making the campus unable to financially sustain itself.

“It’s very much a tough decision to have to make,” Broyles said. “Many years ago, when the Umpire campus consolidated with what was the Wickes School District, it was labeled as an isolated campus. They were able to keep their identity and have to be able to sustain themselves. The campus was told then, if it ever reaches a point where it cannot sustain itself, the district would have to look at closure. As we’ve gone through the next 20 years, isolated campuses have become fewer and fewer. A few years ago, we had a meeting with the Umpire community and expressed to them that enrollment was at an alarming low. Unfortunately, the community there has just not put their kids in the Umpire schools. That’s a decision that I respect, but the fact is, many students in that community are no longer going to Umpire.”

The decline in enrollment, Broyles said, has meant less revenue for the campus. In addition, he said higher expenses are forcing the district to subsidize the negative operating balance at the Umpire campus.

“Enrollment is what funds the school,” Broyles said. “We made that known to the community a few years ago and empowered them to go out and get some of those students back. We’re just seeing enrollment not increase and now we’re at a point where the district as a whole is having to subsidize the Umpire campus a great deal, close to halfa-million dollars last year. Sadly, it’s reached a point where we have to do what’s in the best interest of the district and recommend closure. After the last two years we’ve done everything we could.”

Broyles also addressed concerns from the community that funds that could prop up the Umpire campus were instead being allocated to the district’s new football and volleyball programs. That, said Broyles, is not the case.

“One of those false narratives that’s going around is that the district is closing Umpire to fund its new sports programs,” Broyles said. “That could not be further from the truth. Football and volleyball at Cossatot River is in the best interest of our district. We have to advocate for all of our students. Bringing more opportunities to kids when you can do so is never a bad idea. These programs exist even while Umpire [remains open] and would exist whether the Umpire campus was closed or not closed. Football and volleyball have nothing to do with the Umpire issue. We approached both of those programs as fiscally conservative as we possibly could.”

Broyles said no loss of jobs or teaching positions are expected if the recommendation is in favor of closing the campus. All staff members at Umpire would be offered positions throughout the rest of the district. Any overage in staff would be addressed by attrition.

“That’s why it’s so crucial to act now, because right now the district is in a position where we can afford to offer the Umpire teachers a job,” Broyles said. “Some might ask, ‘How will that save you?’ It’s a process called attrition. When staff members leave, we just won’t replace them because we’ll have extra from Umpire. Historically that tends to happen within a year. Districts that have done this in the past usually by this time the next year they’re having to hire teachers.”

In addition, Umpire territory would remain a part of the Cossatot River School District. Umpire students who wish to attend another district would go through school choice or a legal board transfer. A Cossatot River school bus would continue to pick up students in the Umpire area.

The district is welcoming community members to attend the board meeting to make their voices heard before the school board votes on the recommendation.

District officials stress there are rules that must be followed to have your name placed on the agenda to speak. Details can be found by visiting the website at www.cossatot. us and clicking on the “More” tab. Community members can also call 870-385-7101 for assistance.