By Erin Maxson
 
November 12, 2009
 
YREKA, Calif. - While the state of California is in the midst of a budget crisis, it may come as a surprise that Siskiyou County school districts are not in as financially dangerous territory as many Southern Oregon school districts.
 
However, in the last few years the Yreka-Union Elementary School District has eliminated both staff and programs.
 
"In our district we made cuts two years ago that were relatively significant. We cut teaching positions, cut counselor positions, aid positions, reduced hours on a lot of our classified staff," Yreka Union Elementary Superintendent Vanston Shaw said.
 
"The schools have been in one financial crisis after another," Teacher Cindy Brown said... "The kids keep getting short changed all along the way."
 
It was the loss of those positions which, in part, allowed the district to make only a few cuts this school year.
 
"I was laid off at the end of last school year," Teacher LeAnn Stensether said.
 
Stensether, who was last hired two years ago, was first cut this year.
 
Stensether still helps out in her children's classrooms and remains hopeful that the school will be able to bring her back on board soon.
 
"It's really hard but you have to try to remain positive and hope that this budget thing will go away and that we will have money again someday. I think the teachers are doing the best they can with what they have," Stensether said.
 
"Our classroom budgets have been pretty small the last few years," Brown said.
 
"When I first started we actually had a $1,000 budget that we could spend on our classroom. And over the years we've lost it little by little to now where we are down to $400 that we can spend per year," 4th Grade Teacher Amy Dunlap.
 
"We lost our fourth through sixth grade PE program because of funding cuts again," Brown said.
 
It's up to me now to schedule that time in, making sure kids get the PE time that the state actually requires us. So we just kinda read the game and go 'OK guys, we are going to play this today'. It's not as it was when we had a physical education teacher," Dunlap said.
 
However, the teachers, staff and parents at Gold Street Elementary consider themselves lucky.
 
"Right now our budget is in pretty good shape and we do have some reserves. And we'll rely on our reserves. And I know that much of the districts in Southern Oregon did not have much in reserves," Shaw said.
 
Those reserves, coupled with federal funding, is what's keeping schools afloat in Siskiyou County.
 
"We got $500,000 that we can use for this year that is helping us maintain some of our staff this year. Then we'll have to see what happens the following year," Shaw said.
 
"Schools never got IOUs. But what has happened though is that as they have restructured, the way they pay schools is they have done what they call deferred payments so they won't give us an IOU. They just won't pay us," Shaw said.
 
"At this point we don't have the fear that we are not going to catch up enough that we can't cover all these bases. So it hasn't gotten to the point where we are all afraid of it all falling apart or something," Shaw said.
 
The teachers and parents, despite a few changes and challenges, continue to look for a solution.
 
"I don't know, I just think other things should be cut before education, such as the prison system. And we just need to put our children number one," Stensether said.
 
"And not just their parents and the community, but the state government. Let's show these kids, 'hey you guys are worth it that you guys have the supplies that you need to learn because we know that we want you to be valuable members of our society'," Dunlap said.
 
"At this point I don't have any solutions, I mean Arnold doesn't have any solutions and I don't either. But I can only hope that we have this classroom, this school, here five years from now," Brown said.