Changes to the roster are coming from the top and bottom of the ladder at the Bainbridge Island School District.

Two school board members announced their resignations at the Jan. 9 BISD school board meeting, effective mid-February and late March.

At the same meeting, the board certified a six-person reduction in hours of classified staff, its first in years, all of whom work in the Food and Nutrition department. It also granted permission to superintendent Amii Thompson to make additional reductions in classified staffing for the 2024-25 school year, as needed.

Board members Robert Cromwell and Mark Emerson will be leaving their positions Feb. 14 and March 28 respectively, citing state-level shortcomings and diminished stake in the district with their children’s graduations.

“One of our former board members, Mev Hoberg, said it so well that I will shamelessly quote her: ‘With no children in the district and no longer commuting to any degree, I find that I am only advocating for myself,’” Emerson said. “I am not so hubristic as to think that I am the (only) community member capable of doing this job. I have always said that our community will only be as strong as we make it and feel that the decisions we have made, and others will make, will continue to lead our district on its journey of excellence.”

The district will appoint interim board members for the remainder of each position’s term, until November 2025. Applications for the District 2 appointee position will be accepted through Feb. 13, and the new member will be sworn in Feb 27. Applications for the District 5 appointee position will be accepted Feb. 7 through March 13, and the new member will be sworn in March 27.

Both Cromwell and Emerson expressed confidence in the district’s leadership — “we have the right people in place,” Emerson said — but the challenges are not to be understated.

Cromwell, who did not attend the meeting in person, encouraged the BISD community to recognize the district’s financial crisis due to the state legislature’s “unwillingness to fund the services and programs they require” in his letter of resignation.

“Let me be clear, I believe we should be doing much more for the students we serve — and the staff who serve them,” he wrote. “Until the governor and the legislature address the state funding problem, some very hard choices will have to be made in the coming weeks and months, and they will impact the way in which the district serves the students in our community.”

The six workers who saw their hours reduced are the first manifestation of those hard choices. District financial director Kim Knight explained that they all “graciously volunteered to take those hours off” during finals week, Jan. 22-24, when a full kitchen staff is not necessary.

“I do appreciate you trimming as lightly as possible, but still trimming, because we do need to make those cuts and we cannot kick this can down the road anymore,” board member Evan Saint Clair said.