Almost all Haines School teachers will become tenured at the start of next school year, and some Haines school board members raised concerns that it will be difficult to cut staff if funding gets tight.

school board members approved the contracts of tenured and nontenured teachers and staff Thursday for the 2018-2019 school year.

Interim superintendent Rich Carlson said on the first day of the next school year this fall, two more staff members will become tenured for a total of 16 in the district.

“We’re coming down to most of our staff will be tenured, and when it comes down to less students and having to get rid of staff, we’re not going to have an option,” said school board member Sarah Swinton.

Tenured status allows a teacher to be more or less permanent in the district. Tenure is offered in Haines on the first day of a teacher’s fourth consecutive year at the school.

Teachers have 30 days from the board’s approval to sign their contracts. Carlson said it is possible to revoke a contract from a nontenured teacher after it has been signed, but before the first day of the next school year when the person becomes tenured.

“If for some reason things change dramatically, the state legislature decides that as opposed to flat funding they are going to cut education, we’ll have to do something drastic,” Carlson said. “Which would mean we’d probably go back to the nontenured people and simply say ‘I’m sorry, but we have to change our mind.’”

Board president Anne Marie Palmieri reminded the board that there is a process to lay off tenured staff, but it is difficult.

“In our school, every position is so critical,” Palmieri said. “And we want to make sure that we find teaching staff that are top notch and good fits for our school as well as having some rounded edges and flexibility in the subject matter that they can teach.”

Board member Brian Clay said laying off staff last minute would affect the entire school. Carlson said he hopes the district would be able to see drastic cuts coming if it was based on the state legislature.

“I don’t see that happening but I guess you never know in the environment we’re in right now,” Carlson said. “We’re offering the contracts, it doesn’t mean that everybody is going to accept the contract. We could get a surprise or two.”