More than a dozen Bayfield School District staff members have accepted buyouts and will leave their positions amid budget cuts.
The cuts – which include natural attrition, unfilled vacancies and reduced contract work for elementary counselors – were detailed in Board of Education documents and during a special meeting Tuesday.
“Like many districts around our state, the continued decline in student enrollment, rising costs, and flat funding for education have put our budget in a bind,” District Superintendent Dylan Connell told The Durango Herald in an email Tuesday.
Seventeen staff members applied for a buyout, and 15 were approved, according to a Salary and Benefit Reduction Report by the district.
Those opting to leave include kindergarten, second, third and fourth grade teachers; a reading interventionist; a STEM teacher; a counselor; and an orchestra teacher. Most staff members are expected to leave in late May, according to the report.
When asked the incentive amounts offered to staff, Connell said the district supplied a “lump sum payment commensurate with their (a staff member’s) years of service to the district.”
Board President Rebecca Parnell delivered a speech on the staff reductions through tears at Tuesday’s meeting, saying that though the 15 staff members chose to leave voluntarily, the impact of the departures “is real, and it is felt.”
“I want to be very clear that this is not a moment of celebration for us,” she said. “The decisions made in recent weeks still represent a real loss for our district, and we’re saying goodbye to valued educators and programs that matter deeply to our students and our community.
“On a personal level, I’m saying goodbye to educators who have supported my own children,” she said. “... These are not numbers – they’re real people.”
Madeline Shea, a first grade teacher at Bayfield Primary School, was one of several individuals to speak on the staff reduction during public comment. Shea said the loss of teachers who provide art education at the primary school will have a negative impact on students.
“I can’t sit here and say I’m an advocate for students and know that we’re cutting things in this district,” she said. “... I’m aware that there needs to be cuts and it has to come from somewhere. I just encourage – moving forward – that teachers have a bigger voice in problem-solving and collaborating with (the board), because we’re creative in the classroom, (and) we can be creative in this district together.”
Because of the success of the voluntary separation initiative, a reduction in force plan rolled out at a March 24 school board meeting – which would have involved staff “involuntarily separating” from the district, according to the report – will not be put into effect.
According to Connell and the report, the immediate goal is to bring the district below the 85% threshold of total revenue being allocated to salary and benefits for the 2026-27 school year, with the longer-term goal being to get that number closer to 80%.
The district has so far saved about $213,000 through the voluntary separation efforts and expects to save about $1.39 million total in salary and benefit costs for the 2026-27 school year, according to the report and discussion at the meeting.
For more information
A full recording of Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting can be accessed at www.youtube.com/live/KmLtLOG5j70
Board Vice President Justin Talbot spoke in opposition to the voluntary separation program, criticizing the process and saying it has “crippled (the) district.”
“I know that we – Dylan (Connell) – explained to you all that this wasn’t a reduction in staff, but we can’t BS each other,” he said. “This was a reduction in staff. This was pushing great teachers and professionals out the door, and I’m very upset about it.”
Talbot said downsizing efforts were focused on professional staff and teachers rather than on administration, and that experienced staff left their roles with the district prematurely through the VSI program as a way to allow younger employees to continue their careers.
Connell disagreed that administrators were overlooked in budget cuts.
Two director positions have been vacated in the recent past, he said, and targeting additional administrative roles in the buyout program was considered – but the district felt reducing them further, especially at the middle school level, would hurt efforts to improve student behavior and achievement.
The Bayfield School District is not the only Southwest Colorado district downsizing staff in response to budget issues.
The Durango School District announced its own slew of staffing cuts last month – some of which were not voluntary – in response to a nearly $2 million dollar budget deficit.
Durango School District initially declined to share exact numbers with the Herald, but described a range of positions being impacted. Spokeswoman Karla Sluis later said at least 15 administrative positions had been cut as of late March.
A Durango School District finance director painted a bleak budget picture during a Board of Education work session at Park Elementary School last month that illustrated enrollment losses, funding shifts and deficit concerns impacting education on a statewide level.
“This is a process of grief for all of us – for each of us individually, including myself,” Connell said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I would not ever wish to be on this precipice. However, I am grateful ... for the people who have volunteered, and for the grace and kindness that has been shown and the way that people have communicated, even when they're frustrated. ... (We are) doing the best that we can with the limited resources that we have.”
The two staff members not accepted for buyouts will continue working with the district, Connell said.
“In order for the voluntary separation incentive to be agreeable, it had to benefit the employee and the organization,” he told the Herald. “There were a couple of applicants for separation in roles that would have caused unsafe or excessive loss in parts of our system.”
epond@durangoherald.com
