Towards the end of the 2023-2024 school year, the word started to spread that the school was going through financial issues. Soon after, rumors started to circulate claiming some of CHS students’ favorite teachers would no longer be employed and the school would be welcoming in some new faculty.
Many of these rumors turned out to be only partially true: the Cascade School District did let some teachers go through a process known as attrition: a "gradual reduction of a workforce by employees’ leaving and not being replaced rather than their being laid off”. Many teachers who wished to keep a job at CHS took on new roles.
Many staff members transitioned to teaching new subjects. Mrs. Weil, who was previously a part time English Language Learner specialist, is now a full-time English teacher. Mr. Wharton who previously taught English is now a Special Education teacher. Mrs. Krejci, the previous Special Education teacher is now a math teacher. Mrs. Wall maintained her role as ASL teacher, but added teaching choir to her responsibilities.
“For me it’s been mostly a positive change. I really like the English curriculum and I’m really happy to be joining a strong English department and teaching an interesting curriculum, it’s definitely different but it’s a challenge I’m enjoying. I think the major stressor for me is simply that it takes a long time to learn something new, and you don’t necessarily do a great job when you try something new at first, so I’m spending a lot of time trying my best to deliver really good lessons in interesting ways,” said Weil.
“There’s definitely things I appreciate about [the change]. Any change is always a little bit tricky to adapt to [and] I’m still adapting. It’s made my day to day a little more chaotic and harder to predict, which could be fun, but it’s also a little bit challenging,” explained Mr. Wharton.
However, the change, for some, was a bit different. “There’s definitely things I appreciate about [the change]. Any change is always a little bit tricky to adapt to [and] I’m still adapting. It’s made my day to day a little more chaotic and harder to predict, which could be fun, but it’s also a little bit challenging,” explained Mr. Wharton.
In addition to position changes, Cascade is very excited to bring in new members. These new additions to the CHS family include Mrs. Grace, the new school counselor; Mr. Swanson, the new principal; Mrs. Underwood; a new para educator; and Mr. Romero, the new Spanish teacher.
James Swanson, who previously served as the Icicle River Middle School principal, was one person impacted during this process.
“In an effort to consolidate some of the positions in the district, including administrative positions, for budgetary reasons, we moved administrative positions which placed me at the high school,” stated Mr. Swanson. “I love change and think it is a way to foster evolution and growth. Getting to know the systems and traditions in a new building is always time-consuming. The largest impact on me currently is finding time to get everything done. I appreciate the grace that people continue to show knowing there is a transition period for a new administrator to come into a building.”
“I’m not sure what my hopes are for this year since it’s a new school, but I hope that students learn a lot about Spanish, and they like to learn Spanish. I also want students to be able to talk to other students that only speak Spanish,” said Mr. Romero.
Another change this year was the reduction of the vice-principal's role. Vice-Principal Bibby saw her contract reduced from 1.0 to .8. This, of course, puts added pressure on the entire administrative team who must cover her responsibilities when she is not present on Mondays this year.
A change in staff members causes adjustment for the students as well. “I think that there are good changes, because the teachers can find new pathways and teach new things, they are learning as they go as well as us students,” stated Breigh Ragsdale (11).
“I feel like the aspect of bonding with teachers changed, because it felt like with Mrs. Sandborn and Mr. Joya I bonded with them, it made me really happy and excited to go to school. Now it’s not really the same, because I don’t know them so it’s harder to have that bond with them,” explained Amara Flansburg (11).
Change is never easy, but with time, it can become appreciated. Teachers and students are learning to adapt this year and will likely be better off for the change that they originally struggled to accept or adjust to.
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