East Valley to close middle school, lay off teachers

The East Valley School Board has decided to close Mountain View Middle School and lay off 25 teachers in the district as part of budget cuts totaling more than $1 million. The board Friday declared a fiscal emergency due to state funding cuts. In a statement, Superintendent John Glenewinkel said the district is expecting known cuts of almost $1.05 million and could see another $1.76 million in cuts still being considered by the state. In light of these cuts, the board Friday approved the following measures: -Restructure attendance boundaries. -Move the staff from Skyview Elementary to Otis Orchards Elementary; Students at Skyview will be asked to enroll at Otis Orchards, Trentwood or the Continuous Curriculum School. -Current fifth grade students at Trent, Trentwood, Otis Orchards and East Farms elementary schools will stay at those schools for sixth grade. -Mountain View Middle School will close and all current seventh- and eighth-grade students will attend East Valley Middle School next year. -Twenty-five teachers have been notified they will be laid off, based on the collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union. -There will be cuts made to the administration and the classified staff. The board will host a series of community meetings in the next couple of weeks. “These meetings will not be forums to discuss the actions already identified that must happen,” Glenewinkel said in his statement. “They will be meetings to talk about how to make the changes in a way that is least disruptive to students.” The meetings will be held May 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mountain View, 6011 N. Chase; May 11 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the district offices, 12325 E. Grace Ave.; and May 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Trent Elementary School Auditorium, 3303 N. Pines Road. For more information, call the district office at (509) 924-1830.