Frequently Asked Questions

Like every household, our school district has a financial reality to live in. Expenses have outpaced income. The funding Tacoma Public Schools will receive from the State for the 2025-26 school year remains almost flat. For our total budget, we will receive a 1.25% increase for special education and a 1% increase for basic education.  
 
The minimal increases do little to address the estimated $30 million shortfall.

We operate in the confines of the state and federal budgets, and collective bargaining agreements. As we approach a $30 million shortfall, there are things we can do and things we can’t do. We’re so glad to have a strong relationship with TEA and be able to work through these realities together.   

The money we receive from the state, year after year, continues to fall short and fails to account for rising costs of utilities, fuel, meals and building supplies. The biggest gap we’re facing is the amount of money the state provides for staff salaries and benefits.  

Every year it gets harder and harder. This year was especially challenging knowing that 86% of the general budget is staff salaries and benefits, and the state only provides 65% of what we need to cover these costs. We cannot create a sustainable budget for the future without staff cuts and program changes. 

TPS used the School Board’s guiding principals and holds strongly to our commitment to keep as many of our team members as possible. We are following each collective bargaining agreement and working with labor partners to find a similar fit for them somewhere in our school district.   

These choices are not a reflection of the job our staff does. We value them and the incredible work they do, so much so that they are the highest paid teachers among the 10 largest school districts in the state. We invest in them, and it’s paying off. Our graduation rate is the highest it’s ever been and continues to top the state average.  

We still have work to do this summer to fill additional vacancies across the district. For certificated vacancies, we will prioritize rehiring fully certificated provisional employees that received a non-renewal notice. For all other employee groups, when vacancies are identified through enrollment, retirements or resignations, we will post job openings online. 
 
We will also 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.

Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the Peer Inclusion preschool will no longer be offered. 

While there are a lot of supporters of the Peer Inclusion program, we’ve heard consistent feedback from participating families over the years that the structure of four half-days a week is too much. As a result, we tested a different model – called Play Group – this year. Play Group is a more flexible, family-friendly program designed to build early social and academic skills through play-based learning. This program is designed for students who are building toward being ready for full-time school. Sessions are 90 minutes, twice a week. They are located at five locations in Tacoma – locations with additional services available to serve families.  
 
Students who might have participated in Peer Inclusion next school year can participate in Play Group or one of our other programs for young learners. 

Alongside Play Group, our early learning continuum also includes: Head Start and ECEAP (full- and part-day options), Transition to Kindergarten (full-day), and Specialized Preschool for children aged 3–5 (half-day). 

Tacoma Public Schools no longer has the option of participating in the free and reduced-price meal program that many of us were familiar with. Due to federal program changes, all of our students now qualify for free meals through the Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

If the option was available to charge for school lunches at the schools with lower poverty rates, we would not earn enough revenue to offset our shortfall or help to reduce program cuts. We know that nutrition and access to food is a necessary support to students succeeding in the classroom and will continue to support student access to breakfast and lunch in our schools.

In Washington, money collected to pay for building or modernizing schools can only be used for that purpose. Our school district budget has six different funds, or accounts. Staff salaries come from the General Fund. Money to build schools comes from the Capital and Technology Levy fund. State law dictates that money from one fund can’t be used to pay for expenses from another.

We are fortunate that Tacoma voters continue to support our schools and staff by approving ballot measures that replace aging schools in every neighborhood. Updated buildings ensure that our students have safe, comfortable environments for teaching and learning.

The multilingual preschool program, previously housed at Sheridan Elementary, will not be offered in the 2025-26 school year. Students who were enrolled in the multilingual preschool 24-25 school year have a guaranteed spot in another TPS preschool program.

Q: Will Sheridan and Blix elementary schools continue to have a dual language program in the 2025-26 school year?
A: Yes, and dual language will be expanding to include 5^th grade at Sheridan Elementary.

To date, an estimated 403 staff, including full and part-time positions, were impacted by displacements, program changes and cuts. Of this total, 200 staff will be in a different role and 203 staff currently do not have positions for next school year. 

Based on program changes and cuts announced, here’s a summary of updates for each employee group impacted: 

• Certificated staff: As of June 12, 107 certificated staff have been displaced for the 2025-26 school year. 65 of them have been notified of their new placement, and we are working as quickly as possible to place the remaining 42 certificated staff who were displaced. In addition to those who were displaced, 14 CTE/SpEd staff were transferred and will remain in their role, but at a different site. Additionally, 105 provisional certificated staff did not receive a contract for the 2025-26 school year. After our budget is adopted, we will prioritize rehiring fully certificated provisional employees that received a non-renewal notice.  
• Office Professional/Professional Technical: As of Juen 12, 34 OP/PT staff were displaced due to position eliminations. Of the total, 20 have a new assignment for the 2025-26 school year. The HR team continues to work as quickly as possible to assist staff who are interested in applying for vacant positions. 

• Education Support Professionals: As of June 12, 132 ESP staff were displaced due to position eliminations. Of this total, 57 displaced ESP staff were placed in new MTSS positions. Some MTSS positions were consolidated based on the needs of individual schools. We will prioritize Peer Inclusion ESP staff for the 10 new Playgroup ESP positions posted this week. 

• Administrators: 11 central office administrative positions and one assistant principal position were eliminated. These positions are in addition to the 60 administrative positions that were eliminated in the last two years. 

Many provisional staff impacted are those who are within the first two years of teaching in Washington. On May 14, 2025, 105 of them received notice that their contract is not renewed for the 2025-26 school year. 

After all displaced certificated staff are placed for the 2025-26 school year, we will prioritize rehiring fully certificated provisional employees that received a non-renewal notice.

Displacement is different than contract non-renewals, layoffs or reductions in force. Certificated displaced staff will no longer remain in their current position and will be given a new assignment. This new assignment may be different than their current role and may result in a transfer to a different school. 

Some certificated staff who were displaced will have the opportunity to be placed in similar roles at their school. Others will be given a new assignment that may include filling the vacancies left by the provisional staff. This allows us to continue to support students in our buildings with staff they know and trust.   

We have spent the last two years addressing our budget shortfalls, which includes more than a 21% reduction in administrative positions.

• In 2023, we faced a $10 million budget shortfall for the 2023-24 school year. To address this, 22 central office administrative positions were eliminated, and we made cuts to $6 million in expenditures.
• In 2024, we faced a $40 million budget shortfall for the 2024-25 school year. To address this, 38 administrative positions were eliminated, and we made cuts to $9.5 million to our overall staffing budget. We also identified $20 million in reductions to expenditures.
• In 2025, we face an estimated $30 million budget shortfall for the 2025-26 school year. To address this, 12 administrative positions were eliminated, and we have identified an estimated $20 million from program cuts and reductions to our discretionary expenditures.  

Supporting students is our priority, but we can’t create a sustainable budget for the future without staff cuts and program changes. It’s not lost on us that every support for students comes from a caring adult who may be impacted by these cuts. These are extremely difficult choices that reflect our financial reality.

In the last three years, exempt administration staff have received 2% in salary increases in addition to receiving an implicit price deflator (IPD) increase from the State. The following provides an overview of additional salary percentage increases plus the IPD rate for that school year: 

• 2022-23: 1% + 6.5% IPD = 7.5% 
• 2023-24: 1% + 3.7% IPD = 4.7% 
• 2024-25: 0% + 3.7% IPD = 3.7% 

The Washington State Legislature adopted IPD as replacement for the cost-of-living adjustment to increase salary allocations for school employees as inflation occurs. It is determined and provided by the State for all full-time equivalent employees. 

For the 2024-25 school year, exempt administrators, not including Principals, did not receive a salary step increase or additional percentage increase. Represented employees received IPD plus additional increases negotiated by their unions. 

For more information about represented staff, please visit the Bargaining & Salary Schedules page.

As of June 12, 132 ESP staff were displaced due to position eliminations. Of this total, 57 displaced ESP staff were placed in new MTSS positions. Some MTSS positions were consolidated based on the needs of individual schools. We will prioritize Peer Inclusion ESP staff for the 10 new Playgroup ESP positions posted this week. 

105 provisional certificated staff did not receive a contract for the 2025-26 school year. After our budget is adopted, we will prioritize rehiring fully certificated provisional employees that received a non-renewal notice. 

As of June 12, 107 certificated staff have been displaced for the 2025-26 school year. 65 of them have been notified of their new placement, and we are working as quickly as possible to place the remaining 42 certificated staff who were displaced. In addition to those who were displaced, 14 CTE/SpEd staff were transferred and will remain in their role, but at a different site. 

Some instructional coaches, counselors and librarians received displacement notifications. This means while still maintaining their employment with the school district, they will not remain in their current position next year. Some of these displacements are due to enrollment and scheduling. The following are due to program cuts and include: 

• Secondary Librarians (transitioned to dual role) 
• Secondary Instructional Coaches 
• Elementary Counselors (reduced to one counselor per school) 
• Elementary Instructional Coaches

Support for instruction will look different next year. We will have more information in August about these changes and how staff will receive instructional support. 

As of Juen 12, 34 OP/PT staff were displaced due to position eliminations. Of the total, 20 have a new assignment for the 2025-26 school year. The HR team continues to work as quickly as possible to assist staff who are interested in applying for vacant positions.