Through the loss of $10 million in the LOSD budget, LHS has experienced major changes. Following the start of the new school year, many students have noticed that it has been difficult to take their preferred classes.

“This year we just had no flexibility,” said counselor Holly Poulivaati. “I wasn’t able to offer any sort of alternative solution.”
Some students have had to make compromises when planning their schedules with some taking core classes online, at LOHS, or even dropping classes altogether due to scheduling conflicts.

“I had to choose between a math class and a chemistry class,” said senior Cecilia Hahn. “It was really frustrating because it was tough to make a choice between two core classes.”

Due to the change in the LOSD budget, some staff across the schools had to be relocated to other schools or were let go. With the reduction of staff in the district, many classes have 30 students, with some having over 35. This increase of students has caused teachers to take on many more students than normal.

LHS history teacher Brittany Larson has had to teach over 50 more students this year than in previous years.

“I don’t think most students have any idea how much time teachers spend outside of the contract work day,” said Larson. “I would wish that [students] had a little bit of a frame of reference for how much bigger our workload has gotten this year, and how
much more time that means that we’re going to all be spending.”

The exact recovery timeline for the LOSD budget is currently unknown because the budget comes primarily from state and federal funding sources.