Mid-Columbia Schools Brace for More Budget Cuts (WA)

April 23, 2010

Tri-City school leaders say they likely won’t have to lay off teachers next year because of state cuts to public education.

But they will have to find other ways to trim their already-lean budgets.

"It’s a big challenge," said Vic Roberts, Kennewick School District’s business manager.

Districts are facing a second straight year of significant belt-tightening because of reductions the Legislature made to plug gaps in the 2009-11 budget. The Legislature last week approved a budget for the remainder of the biennium that cuts $755 million from programs including K-12 education.

That’s on top of $800 million in public school funding cut during the 2009 legislative session.
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School leaders in the Tri-Cities have been poring over the latest numbers, calculating exactly what the cuts will mean to their districts. Numbers still are preliminary, but Kennewick schools expect to lose between $1.7 million and $2.5 million.

The Richland School District is projecting a loss of $1 million to $1.7 million.

And Pasco schools are expecting to lose about $870,000.

The biggest hits will be to Initiative 728 money and a stream of funding known as "K-4 enhancement."

Both are used to reduce class sizes, mostly by hiring staff. I-728 already took a hit in the 2009 legislative session and now is being eliminated, while K-4 money is being reduced.

The Legislature did preserve levy equalization funding, which most Mid-Columbia districts rely on to help keep their programs running. The money is given to districts with low property values to level the playing field with more affluent districts.

Some Tri-City districts actually are expecting to receive more levy equalization money next year because the formula for determining the amounts has been reworked.

In the Walla Walla School District, the state budget cuts are expected to mean a loss of $1.2 million next school year.

The district plans to absorb the cuts by eliminating some administrative positions, reducing money for staff training, school supplies and custodial services and dipping into the fund balance, according to information from the district. No permanent staff will be laid off, the district said

In the small Columbia-Burbank district, officials are expecting to lose about $11 7,000 in I-728 money and $24,000 in K-4 enhancement next year. The district also is projecting a decline in enrollment, which means another funding hit because districts get money from the state based on how many students they have.

That makes budgeting a challenge, but "the district is working hard to try to maintain the jobs for all of its employees for the upcoming school year," said Superintendent Lou Gates.

Dave Bond, superintendent of Kennewick schools, said his district will be able to weather the cuts for the next year. But he, like other area school leaders, is concerned about the year after that, when federal stimulus money that’s been used to backfill some of the state cuts will drop off.

"We’re going to weather (next year) with minimal impact on kids. But the outlook for the future continues to be challenging," he said.

Districts typically don’t adopt their budgets for the coming school year until the summer.