(The Center Square) – Tacoma Public Schools is cutting its staff by more than 100 positions for the next school year as the district continues to deal with a $30 million budget shortfall.
Last month, 115 provisional certificated employees received notice that their contracts were paused for the 2025-26 school year. Now 105 of them have been notified that their contracts will not be renewed.
An additional 59 certificated staff members were also notified that they will still be employed within the district but are not remaining in their current position next school year. These staff members include teachers on special assignment, ESL bilingual teachers, secondary librarians, and peer inclusion teachers.
Kathryn McCarthy, assistant director of communications at Tacoma Public Schools, told The Center Square that despite the staff reductions made to date, a balanced budget for the 2025-2026 school year is still out of reach.
“We still have more work to do,” McCarthy told The Center Square in an email. “We will continue to find creative partnerships that support students, as we have done for things like after school programs that give our kids a safe, engaging place to be.”
Enrollment numbers at the district dropped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic in 2020, enrollment sunk to a low of 28,353 in the 2023-24 school year. Enrollment slightly rebounded to 29,010 in 2024-25, but still trails the pre-pandemic peak of 30,406, according to data from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The district also points to a lack of state funding. For its upcoming budget, Tacoma Public Schools will receive a 1.25% increase for special education and 1% for basic education, which the district says does little to address the $30 million shortfall.
The biggest gap facing the district is the amount of money the state provides for staff salaries and benefits. According to Tacoma Public Schools, 86% of the general budget is dedicated to staff salaries and benefits, with the state only providing 65% of what is needed to cover costs.
Notably, Tacoma Public Schools has the highest beginning salary and top salary out of all Washington school districts in the 2024-25 school year. Teachers at the district saw a beginning salary of $73,227 and the top salary was $146,337, according to data from the district.
In the previous school year, Tacoma Public Schools cut 38 administrative positions and $9.5 million in its overall staffing budget to address a $40 million shortfall.