Kent teachers could be let go if enough don’t leave

Published 4:09 pm Monday, February 16, 2026

In an effort to reduce the 2026-2027 budget, Kent School District leaders reportedly are preparing to send out nonrenewal letters to as many as 408 provisional teachers in case not enough teachers leave through attrition.

District leaders fear enough teachers might not leave through retirement and resignation, to take a teaching job elsewhere or leave the profession. In fact, in a recent email to teachers, the district is offering a $500 incentive to teachers if they give an early notification (by March 14 to Human Resources) of retirement or resignation. How much that costs the district remains to be determined.

Leaders of the Kent Education Association (KEA, teachers union) spoke during the Feb. 11 Kent School Board meeting to explain what the district is considering with an estimated budget shortfall of $30.5 million in 2026-2027.

“We were notified in writing last week that KSD will not pursue reduction in force (RIF) for our certificated educators,” said Layla Jones, KEA vice president, at the Feb. 11 meeting. “We do not have the financial triggers in store to enact a RIF which is great news. …But what’s not good news is the district maintaining they can explore other options which may include the nonrenewal of some provisional positions.”

Provisional teachers are those in the first three years of their career or who are working their first year in the Kent School District.

Union leaders reported that district staff estimates about 150 teachers need to leave through attrition to help meet budget for next school year.

Jones said at least 150 teachers leave the district each year, based on data from the last nine years. In several years, more than 200 left. A total of 177 teachers exited last year.

“If I’m using the district’s own attrition numbers, I don’t see a need for potential nonrenewal of our provisional employees, which is good news,” Jones said. “We don’t have to go down this path either, right? One hundred fifty people is a lot.”

The district communications team didn’t respond to a Feb. 13 Kent Reporter email with questions about letters going out to provisional teachers and potential teacher losses through attrition.

Deputy Superintendent Wade Barringer, however, during a budget work session Feb. 4 with the Kent School Board, admitted teachers might have to be cut if enough don’t leave on their own.

“We really bank on attrition,” Barringer said. “If we can do anything we possibly can to stay away from having to take jobs from people without people separating through retirements or leaving the state and things like that. …We kind of roll the dice and and hope and pray every year that we have a certain amount of attrition that leads us in that direction, so the impact to those others are not impacted where we actually have to do some sort of nonrenewal.”

Jones explained during the board meeting that district leaders need to look at recruitment and retention and not just attrition, especially when looking at the potential costs to let go of provisional teachers that the district already has spent thousands of dollars on to train the new hires.

Jones estimated the district has already invested $225,000 to $345,000 in onboarding 150 provisional staff.

“If we’re looking at all 408 provisional staff that are in the district currently, which is one in five of your certificated educators are provisional, that’s anywhere from $640,000 to almost a million dollars,” Jones said. “About $940,000 that we’ve already invested in those teachers this year alone to onboard.”

In addition, Jones said the new teachers include a more diverse staff and special education instructors, which can be tough to replace.

“In closing, I just ask that the board consider other options before nonrenewing our provisional employees,” Jones said.

Tim Martin, KEA president, spoke after Jones and continued the same message.

“Four hundred eight is mind-boggling to me,” Martin said about the potential nonrenewal letters. “It’s going to cause panic and unnecessary stress. KSD says it needs 150 to resign then handle that through attrition. Sometimes over 300 leave. …There is no reason to cause undue stress and chaos for our staff, our students, and our families because everybody’s going to hear it.”

If the district sends the letters, notice must go out by Feb. 27 through a mailed letter, Martin said.

Budget steps

The school board is scheduled to receive its next 2026-2027 budget update from staff on Feb. 25.

Additional budget updates and work sessions are set for April 15, 22 and May 13. A public hearing about the budget is on June 10 and the board’s budget adoption is scheduled for June 24.

In a document presented to the board on Feb. 4, district staff explained that due to declining student enrollment continuous structural deficit is expected in the current and next few years, which will drain the ending fund balance if no action is taken to make reductions.

Besides the estimated $30.5 million for next school year, an additional $9.5 million will need to be cut each year from the budget in 2027-2028 and 2028-2029, according to district documents.

District staff hasn’t revealed any estimates of how many employees, in addition to teachers, might need to be let go from other departments in order to reduce the budget and even out expenses with revenue.