Angry parents and concerned children faced off against school administrators over the district’s plan to shut down one elementary school class and fire a teacher late last week.

Not to worry, this story has a happy ending.

At least for now.

When the final enrollment tally indicated 33 fewer students than expected on Sept. 15 — 30 at the elementary school alone — South Whidbey School District officials took swift, some would say hasty, action to deal with the projected $168,000 financial shortfall.

District Superintendent Fred McCarthy and his staff decided the best way to deal with the problem was to dissolve one multi-age, third-and-fourth grade class, moving the teacher into a kindergarten slot and laying off the teacher with the lowest seniority.

An estimated 100 children would have been involved in the move. Affected teachers were notified Wednesday afternoon, and McCarthy explained the plan at a school board workshop that evening by noting this was how things were handled in other districts.

Local officials said quick action was needed since elementary school students begin growing closer to teachers quickly at this age. The sooner the problem was resolved, the better. Or so they thought.

But the word spread through the community faster than a California wildfire.

“Parents were disappointed by the lack of communication between officials, teachers and parents,” said Chris McRea, president of the elementary school PTA. McRea and others began rallying parents to come to a special meeting devoted to the classroom cuts.

That evening, more than 80 parents and community members gathered to hear McCarthy’s explanation.

Several board members were on hand, including board chairman Fred O’Neal.

“The superintendent explained the funding implications and his solution and asked for input,” O’Neal said. “Fred took some serious hits, which he expected and welcomed.”

Parents were angry at the process, the absence of warning and the overall way the situation was handled, said McRea, who has a child in the second grade.

“Parents were frustrated, especially newer parents who hadn’t been through this before,” she said. “They believed they were being treated as second-class citizens and not getting straight answers. They were beyond mad.”

Molly MacLeod-Roberts agreed. Though her two children — in the second and fourth grade — were not directly affected by the district move, she said that didn’t matter.

“We’re all involved in this and we wanted the board, and the superintendent, to know that,” she said. “We were pawns and the general feeling was that our concerns were of no importance.”

MacLeod-Roberts added that it would have been common courtesy to tell the teachers about the cuts first, which she said didn’t happen.

Before the meeting ended at 11 p.m. Thursday, five elementary students from the class in question — Andrew Baesler, Russell Daly, Liam Henny, Charlie Lewarne and Orion Winter — presented McCarthy with a petition with 184 signatures protesting the district’s plan.

McCarthy promised he would consider the matter carefully.

By the end of the school day on Friday, before a packed special assembly in the elementary school gym full of kids and parents, McCarthy was ready with his decision.

“Boys and girls, not as many students showed up this year for school and it looked like we were going to have to move some of your classes and teachers as a result,” he said. “This was a very difficult thing to consider.”

After mentioning the previous night’s emotional meeting, he then invited up the five boys who presented him with the petition.

“These boys felt strongly enough about losing their teacher that they gave me a petition with 183 signatures in protest,” he said.

“184!” one of the boys yelled.

“I stand corrected; 184.”

McCarthy said when the students spoke at the meeting, the adults were all very impressed.

“These young boys are great examples of the kind of good citizenship we teach in our schools,” McCarthy said.

He then said that the district had decided to take money from its savings account — the $1.3 million reserve fund — to pay for the teachers for the balance of the school year.

The rest of his remarks were drowned out as students cheered their approval.

Though the storm had passed, passions were still inflamed this week.

MacLeod-Roberts said the district’s solution was nothing more than a Band-Aid.

“It’s nice they found a way to keep the class and teacher, but what about next time?” she asked. “I wanted to see more attention paid to a reduction in administrative staff. Our teachers are the very best and the cuts should be made elsewhere.”

Business manager Dan Poolman said those cuts are being made already as he tries to find ways to make up the shortfall.

“Of the total, $62,000 represents salary and benefits while the balance ($102,000) will come from non-employee related costs such as reduced maintenance, buying fewer supplies and a reduction in support staff,” he explained.

Some said more needs to be done to fix the district’s financial dilemma.

“We have the potential to be more proactive in getting families with school-age children to move here,” McRea said. “This is something the whole community must work on.”

McCarthy noted on Thursday that the worst enrollment projections are coming to fruition.

“How we deal with the drop in student numbers will be a key factor this year. Teachers, parents and the community need to remember that if we don’t have students, we can’t have the staff and that adjustments will be required,” McCarthy said.

He admitted that the possibility of change came as a real shock to the parents and he has come to understand the need for better communications at all levels.

“People were honestly concerned we wouldn’t be listening to them,” he said. “We’re going to do better at that in the future.”

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.