The Lake Washington School District (LWSD) will not have to lay off any teachers this school year despite unexpected state budget reductions to education, according to Kathryn Reith, LWSD Director of Communications.
However, LWSD may have to make cuts in the 2011-12 budget as a result of the state eliminating funding for K-4 education.
The emergency state cuts to the current budget, approved at the Dec. 11 legislative special session, will lower education funding to LWSD by an estimated $1.7 million in the middle of this school year and by nearly $3 million for the 2011-12 year.
The district’s financial approach has been very conservative over the past several years, which will help LWSD avoid drastic cost-cutting measures, such as layoffs, for this school year, Reith said. However, the mid-year state cuts will translate into $2.9 million less revenue for the 2011-12 school year, forcing the district to make some tough choices for the next school year’s budget.
SAFE, FOR NOW
The district’s long-term financial planning, along with significant cuts in the 2009-10 budget, has resulted in reserves that can now help weather this state-budget storm, Reith said. These efforts have resulted in $6.4 million in reserves in excess of the five percent of the general fund revenue required by the board of directors and other restricted funds.
“Our staff has worked very hard to watch all spending,” he said. “As a result, we will not have to layoff staff in the middle of the school year, which would be very difficult for staff and students alike. We will continue to be very prudent in our spending and will carefully monitor the situation as we begin creating the budget for next year.”
K-4 FUNDING ELIMINATED
The major impact on the LWSD budget is from the elimination of the grades K-4 enhanced staffing ratio, which will be eliminated by the state beginning Feb. 1, 2011. This enhanced ratio provided additional funding to reduce class sizes in these grades. With this cut, the state has eliminated all enhanced funding for lowering class size in grades K-4. The exact total for LWSD is expected to be about $1.5 million for this school year.
In addition, the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) grant will be reduced by 50 percent. The district will lose $163,450 in funding as a result.
As for 2011-12, the elimination of K-4 funding will translate into $2.9 million less revenue for the district’s budget and for every school year after that until the state decides it wants to bring back the K-4 funding, Reith said.
LESS FEDERAL FUNDS
The state legislature plan also included the use of the Federal Education Jobs money to balance the state budget. The result will be a reduction of the district’s basic education funding equivalent to the $4.9 million in federal funds recently allocated to the district by the state. The district had hoped to use these federal funds to help soften the blow of next year’s expected cuts but that will no longer be possible, which means more tough decisions for district officials next school year.
‘ONCE AGAIN, OUR KIDS GOT CUT’
The state’s budget cuts to education at last Saturday’s special session have created frustration from State Superintendent Randy Dorn, who said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, “this budget isn’t all about numbers; it’s about kids. And once again, our kids got cut.”
He said the state is failing on its constitutional duty to adequately fund education. He said the state cuts “place a larger burden of education funding on local districts when it should be the state’s responsibility.”
“In my two years as state superintendent, I’ve been a champion for students most in need,” Dorn said. “After seeing the biennial budget and the cuts from the special session, I have to ask: What has happened to our Constitution? Are people paying attention to what our “paramount duty” is? The courts have ruled that the state isn’t adequately funding education, and that was based on budgets two years ago.”
