50
¢
Inside Thursday, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
Fewer students could cost district
VOL. 19, NO. 6
Serving community
By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
It looks like fewer students are attending Coupeville schools this year. An enrollment count shows the equivalent of 886 full-time students are in Coupeville’s classrooms. That amount is 24 fewer full-time equivalent students then the 910 students school officials had projected for the Central Whidbey-based school district. “If that trend holds, it will mean decreased revenue,” Coupeville School District Superintendent Jim Shank said after Monday’s Coupeville School Board meeting. He said he hopes more students will enroll this week. State funding is based on enrollment and the Coupeville School District receives approximately $5,200 per student. If the enrollment numbers remain the same, the school district could see a reduction in state revenue of approximately $124,800. School officials during the summer break approved a $10.3 million budget for the 2013-2014 school year. The enrollment count comes after teachers have been locked into their contracts for the school year. As to what caused the enrollment decline, Shank discovered that, over the summer, 28 students had transferred to schools outside of Washington state. He said he didn’t say yet how officials will react to the less-than-expected enrollment numbers. The Coupeville School District has been dealing with declining enrollment in recent years. During the last school year, enrollment came in seven full-time-equivalent students less than projected. “I would like to say we’re bottoming out, but I can’t,” Shank said during the meeting about the trend of declining enrollment. For the 2011-2012 school year, Coupeville School District officials budgeted 881 FTE, but the average annual FTE was 955.76. For the 2012-2013 school year, the budgeted number was 923.5 FTE, but the actual number was 915.7 FTE. Classes for most of the students started Sept. 3. “I thought it was a great start,” Shank said noting the week was capped off by the Wolves victory in football Friday night against Bellevue Christian.
Megan Hansen photo
Various nonprofit organizations gathered Saturday for the annual Central Whidbey Nonprofit Fair sponsored by Town of Coupeville. The fair was held in conjunction with the Coupeville Farmers Market and allowed nonprofit groups the chance to share projects, programs and information.
Navy to study impacts of jet noise By Janis Reid Staff reporter
The Navy said last week it will conduct an Environmental Impact Statement for Outlying Field Coupeville and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station on North Whidbey. While the Navy states that EIS plans have been in the works for some time, members of a Coupeville-based citizen group claim the decision is the result of a federal lawsuit they filed in July against the Navy. The group, Citizen’s of the Ebey’s Reserve for a Healthy, Safe and Peaceful Environment, or COER, hoped the lawsuit would compel the Navy to suspend training operations at OLF and spur a new environmental impact study. The Navy suspended operations at OLF in June though the end of 2013. Though the demands of the lawsuit have apparently been met by the Navy, the group’s attorney, David Mann, said they doesn’t intend to dismiss their lawsuit just yet.
Mann expressed concerns with some of the language in the Navy’s notice of intent, which he suspects indicate that they will be using the most current noise levels as the baseline from which they will do their study. “What they looked at in 2005 was wrong,” Mann said. “They have to address the existing and additional noise impacts. We are going to wait until we see the scope of what the Navy’s going to do.” Nevertheless, Mann said, “members of COER are of course ecstatic that the Navy has finally conceded that a complete environmental analysis is necessary. It is unfortunate that
it required that we file federal litigation to get the Navy’s attention, but we are pleased that we provided the necessary catalyst for action.” Ted Brown, the Navy’s Installations and Environmental public affairs officer, said the EIS is part of ongoing Department of Defense strategies and that conducting an EIS is routine when new squadrons are introduced to a Navy base. The EIS will evaluate the potential environmental effects associated with ongoing EA-18G Growler airfield operations at
See STUDY page 16