Police officers assigned to three Highline high schools could be removed as the district searches for cost-cutting measures to make up a $3.1 million gap in next year’s budget.

Superintendent John Welch suggested that the district stop funding school resource officers at the Highline, Evergreen and Tyee campuses during a budget work session with board members on May 10.

The district could also transfer $75,000 from the general budget to its capital projects fund to pay for Mt. Rainier High’s police officer, board members were told.

Interim budget director Barb Piguet said the district’s agreement with Des Moines to allow Mt. Rainier students to be housed at the Olympic site while their school is rebuilt requires the patrolling of parking and traffic.

Because patrolling is related to construction, it is allowable in the capitol budget.

Assistant Superintendent Gerri Fain said Highline cities and King County used to pay for the school police officers through a federal grant. But with grant money drying up, the district increasingly has been asked to subsidize the officers.

Fain added the district employs a security officer at each high school. Two security officers are also assigned to each high school service area.

She said the two security officers cover one high school as well as nearby middle and elementary schools.

Eliminating funding for the three police officers would save $150,000, according to Piguet. Burien, SeaTac and the county could decide to fund the officers on their own.

SeaTac City Council members delayed action May 9 on a proposal to pay $50,000 for a Tyee student health clinic in exchange for the district agreeing to allocate $50,000 for a police officer at Tyee High and Chinook Middle schools.

Fain told board members that fewer fights this year at the Tyee campus has allowed SeaTac’s school resource officer to spend more time at Chinook.

She attributed the decrease in violence to Tyee’s switch to small learning communities.

The officer cuts were among nearly $1.9 million in reduced expenditures suggested by Welch’s staff.

Piguet also identified $779,000 in possible new revenues.

Possibly controversial cuts included reducing the Camp Waskowitz subsidy, removing the driver’s training subsidy and eliminating an elementary librarian position.

Staffers said the district could also cut expenses by maximizing the use of grant funds, eliminating several headquarters positions and using non-teaching staff positions more efficiently.

Piguet also proposed increasing revenue by increasing fees for full-day kindergarten and summer school, and rental of the Highline Performing Arts Center.

New revenue could be gained by applying for Medicaid reimbursement from the state for services provided to students, officials said.

Welch will present his formal budget proposal to the board on May 24. The board is expected to approve the budget in August.

District officials said most of the shortfall is due to a pay raise granted by the Legislature for state-funded teacher positions.

But the district funds approximately 550 additional jobs out of local levy funds and board members feel obligated to pass the raise on to those employees as well.

“(Legislators) did a good thing here, but now we’re zapped,” board vice president Matt Pina commented.

Board members also authorized notification that seven secondary teaching positions could be eliminated next year.

Spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers said the district does not anticipate the jobs will be cut, but teachers must be notified by May 15 of any possible reduction in force.