Eau Claire School Board Approves Staffing Cuts

The Eau Claire Area School District Board has approved cuts to numerous staff positions as it navigates a projected budget deficit.

School board officials say the district is facing an expected $10.5 million deficit for next school year amid rising expenses. According to materials presented to the board last month, the district is anticipating a 30 percent increase in the cost of employee health insurance as well as smaller increases in salaries and utility costs.

District officials cited those rising costs as the driving factor behind the $10.5 million gap between expenses and the amount of state aid the district will receive. In a unanimous vote this week, the school board decided to fully eliminate or partially cut hours for 17 staff positions. Special education, instructional coaching, and art positions were among those to be eliminated entirely, while band, physical education, and other staff positions saw significant hours cut.

The Chippewa Falls School Board also recently approved staffing cuts as it faces its own budget deficit. District officials specifically cited declining enrollment and the expiration of a previously approved referendum as the driving factor behind those cuts.

The Eau Claire Area School District has faced its own enrollment challenges as well, even considering a plan to consolidate some elementary schools last year. District officials say overall enrollment has dropped by about eight percent over the last decade, and there are over 1,600 vacant seats.

Like the pushback that the consolidation plan received last year, a number of community members also spoke against the staffing cuts prior to Monday’s vote. One school board member pointed the blame at the State Legislature for not providing public school districts with the resources they need, consistently forcing them to turn to property taxpayers with operational referendums.