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Budget Information
We teach, support, and challenge students to excel through high-quality instruction and social-emotional learning. Wenatchee is home to thousands of students from preschool to high school, all preparing for their futures. Everyone from district leadership to teachers and staff is committed to seeing students become future-ready. Our budget is a values statement. We prioritize partnering with our stakeholders to be good stewards of the financial resources allotted to us.
Past Budget Information
2024-25 Final Budget
Proposed Budget Reductions Summary for 2024-2025
The Wenatchee School District’s enrollment has been on the decline since 2015. Since that time, 916 full-time equivalents (FTE) have left the district. School districts are funded based on enrollment, which means when enrollments go down, the district receives fewer funds to pay for staffing. Staffing makes up approximately 85% of the district’s budget. In effect, the district must make reductions to balance staffing with enrollment.
Enrollment Decline
Based on projections, the number of students enrolling in our schools is expected to keep decreasing due to lower birth rates, smaller kindergarten classes, and new private and charter school educational options in our community. Additionally, the school district is facing a reduction in Local Effort Assistance (LEA) funds, Regionalization funds, and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds while salaries and benefits are increasing.
Reduction Target Amount
As a result, the school district has set a budget reduction target between $8 million to $9 million for the 2024-2025 academic year. To reach this target and balance staffing with enrollment, the district has proposed a reduction strategy that includes making staffing reductions at the elementary, middle and high school levels. The plan also includes additional district-wide staffing reductions and reductions in materials supplies and operational costs (MSOC).
Budget Reduction Plan
Below is an illistration of the budget reductions the district is proposing for the 2024-2025 school year. This plan allows us to reduce $8.9 million in staffing costs and materials supplies and operations costs, which represents an annual savings to the district.
Middle and High School Schedule Changes
Staffing reductions at the middle and high school levels will happen through schedule changes that require less staff to operate. Through these changes, all three middle schools will operate on a common daily schedule and the Wenatchee High School will change from a 4x4 block schedule to a six period schedule.
School Closure
At the elementary level, where enrollment decline has been the most significant, the district is proposing the conolidations of elementary schools from seven to six. This proposal would close Columbia Elementary in the 2024-2025 school year. Students at Columbia would be reassigned to Lincoln and Washington Elemenarys to continue their education.
The district will hold two public hearings to receive testimony on the proposed closure of Columbia from the public on March 21 and April 18 at 6 PM in the Wenatchee High School Commons, 1101 Millerdale Ave. The school board will make a final decision on the closure on May 14, 2024 at 6 PM during their regular board meeting at the district’s central office 235 Sunset Ave. Wenatchee.
Budget Reduction Info and Documents
Budget Hearing Notice
The Wenatchee School Board of Directors will hold a budget hearing on August 13, 2024 commencing at 6:00 pm for the purpose of receiving comments from the public on the 2024-25 budget. Any person may appear virtually or in person at the hearing and be heard for or against any part of the 2024-25 budget, the four-year budget plan, or any proposed changes to uses of enrichment funding under RCW 28A.505.240. To comment, a public comment form must be completed prior to the meeting. The form is available at wenatcheeschools.org or at the meeting. Pursuant to RCW 28A.505.050 and RCW 28A.505.060, the Board will hold a regular meeting on August 27, 2024, commencing at 6:00 pm in the District Office at 235 Sunset Avenue, where they will take action to adopt the budget of the District for the ensuing 2024-25 fiscal year. At the August 27th meeting, the Board shall fix and determine the appropriation from each fund contained in the 2024-25 budget and shall, by resolution, adopt the 2024-25 budget, the four-year budget plan summary, and the four-year enrollment projection. 2024-25 budget information is available by contacting the District Office at 509-663-8161 or by visiting at 235 Sunset Avenue.
Budget Frequently Asked Questions
There are several factors that have contributed to the district’s current budget concerns. These factors combined contribute to the need to make budget reductions to ensure our revenue source aligns with our expenses.
- Declining enrollment and birth rates. Enrollment has been declining since 2015, when the Alcoa plant idled operations. Birth rates in Chelan County and the city of Wenatchee have also been declining, resulting in smaller kindergarten class sizes. State basic education funding is driven by full-time equivalent enrollment (FTE). As enrollment decreases, so do revenues.
- Staffing levels. Staffing levels need to be realigned to match trends in decreasing enrollment.
- Decreasing regionalization dollars. The state salary funding formula includes regionalization funding to level the playing field between property-rich and property-poor districts. The state calculates regionalization dollars based on enrollment and property values. Our district’s regionalization dollars have been decreasing by 1% per year.
- 1 time Federal ESSER (COVID) funds are ending. The district received federal ESSER dollars to support learning during the pandemic. The district used most of these dollars to keep class sizes small and support the unique learning needs of students during the pandemic. However, these funds were only one-time dollars and will be mostly spent out at the end of 2022-23 school year.
The district made budget adjustments in 2018 to balance revenue and expenses. However, since 2019 staffing levels have increased to support the students during the pandemic and enrollment has been on the decline. The district needs to make further reductions to balance revenues with expenditures.
We spend the majority of our funds on employing 1100 caring staff who work hard to deliver high-quality education to students - teachers, para educators, principals, and the operational staff who support them.
Typically, about 83% of our budget pays for salaries and benefits for our employees who serve over 6,800 students.
Wenatchee School District also pays benefits such as Medicare and Social Security, pension, health care, and unemployment compensation. As you might expect, the cost of providing benefits to our employees increase each year, just as it does in every other business.Non-personnel costs make up the remainder of the budget and include costs required to keep our school buildings running, such as utilities and custodial services, supplies and materials (from paper and textbooks to cleaning supplies), as well as the cost
of transportation, travel, and equipment.
A school district’s budget is made up of five distinct funds; General Fund, Capital Projects Fund, Debt Service Fund, Associated Student Body (ASB), and Transportation. Money from non-general fund accounts cannot be used to pay for staffing.
About the five funds:
- General Fund, the operating budget which guides our day-to-day operations and staffing
- Capital Projects Fund, which covers our long-term school construction and repair needs and cannot be spent on school operations;
- Debt Service Fund, Which we use to pay the principal and interest on bonds issued to finance school construction and renovation;
- Associated Student Body Fund (ASB), which accounts for each middle and high school’s extracurricular activities; and
- Transportation vehicle fund, which is used to buy school buses.
To learn more about how school budgets work, view the Understanding School Finance document.
Local levy dollars are the community's investment in schools. Levies are for learning and make up the difference between state and federal government funding and the actual cost of operating a school district to provide students with a well-rounded education. Local levy funds are the least restrictive of all our funding sources and need to be approved by taxpayer vote every four years.
The levy allows the district to provide services and support for students, such as counselors, custodians, nurses, support staff, technology, and supplies that the state only partially funds. Levies also fund arts, enrichment, athletics, and extracurricular programs.
The district’s current EP&O levy represents only 9.9% ($13.8M) of the district's total revenues.
The District is reviewing natural attrition rates based on past data to determine how many staff could leave the system. Additional incentives have been made available to staff for notifying the district early of their retirement. This will aid us in having a more clear picture of the number of retirements this spring. While attrition will help the district’s budget, it will likely not completely address all the challenges.
The district has taken decisive action to address budget challenges early. The following actions have been taken
- Reduction of three positions at the District Office
- Absorbing 1 elementary teacher position and reassigning another to a building in need
- Freezing all new requests for out-of-state travel not directly related to a student event or competition.
- Reviewing current openings based on need and funding source
- Reviewing 5-year trends in natural attrition (resignations/retirements)
The District is meeting regularly with classified and certificated union leaders to discuss 22-23 budget and projections for 23-24.
Superintendent Eagle has been providing in-person updates to all schools and departments. A preliminary feedback survey has been made available to staff to share feedback and concerns.
Additional opportunities for more detailed feedback will be provided to staff in January.
The District has an aggressive timeline to address the budget. We hope to have a clearer picture of any reductions that would need to be made by the end of February. By maintaining this timeline, we can provide staff with the earliest notice possible about plans for budget reductions. Furthermore, the District will adhere to any contractual obligations with our labor unions.
The superintendent and cabinet team will be working to identify budget reduction scenarios based on the best available information, thinking, and input from staff to put the district back on solid financial footing. The superintendent will make a recommendation on how to make reductions to the school board in February for approval. Ultimately, the board will make decisions on budget reductions.
The district receives state funding for CTE programs based on CTE enrollment only. This funding can only be used for CTE purposes. During our expansion of the CTE program at both the middle school and the high school, we have provided additional offerings for our students as well as created intentional savings in BEA dollars.
Four teacher training days are funded and required days by the state. The remaining two days are funded by local dollars and bargained with our teachers union.
The differential in cost between the two devices that are our standard educationally managed devices is negligible. The student iPad with keyboard case at last purchase was $354 and a student Chromebook was $337. Both devices are slated for refresh on the same timelines of 5-6 years depending on the wear and tear. Chromebooks physically breakdown and wear down faster than the iPads along with the resale of the Chromebook being less than an iPad. The overall cost of ownership is about the same, and maybe slightly tilted in the iPads favor. As far as functionality the touchscreen and the functionality of the iPad it is a better device for flexible options (camera, touch, apps, battery, etc).
At this time, the district has not considered moving to a 4 day week. There are some districts in our region that are currently using a 4 day week schedule - Waterville does this. Moving to a model of this nature would require considerable planning time, conversations, and strong support from our community. Our timeline for making reductions does not allow for those important discussions.
Budget Information Session
Wednesday, August 21
6-7 p.m.
Wenatchee High School, 1101 Millerdale Ave.
The purpose of this special meeting is to share information and hear from the public about the District’s budget and proposed estimates 30-cent levy increase.
Handout
Power Point Presentation
Video
The District projects a budget deficit of 1.6 million for the 19-20 year without a levy increase due to changes in the state school funding model and subsequent salary and benefit-cost increases, in addition to declining enrollment projections. Approximately 4.5 million in cuts were made by the District for the 19-20 school year.
Budget Challenges
- Increase in salary costs is exceeding funding
- School Employee Benefits Board (SEBB) - District cost has increased, the number of staff who qualify has increased.
- Projected Enrollment Decline- Birth rate decreases, charter school
- Regionalization - State allocated rates decreasing resulting. in approximately 3 million loss in revenue over six year
McCleary - New School Funding Model
The state legislature increased the state school tax to provide extra funding for school employee compensation but reduced the local operating levy collection amount as a result of the “McCleary decision”
Public schools are funded by state and federal dollars, grants and local voter-approved levy dollars.
- Wenatchee voters approved a local levy of $2.92.
- The State capped local school levies at $1.50 as part of levy equalization and increased the state tax.
- The McCleary decision contributed to the budget deficit in 19-20 and beyond.
Budget Reductions
The District cut 4.5 million in staffing and operational cost in 19-20. Like many school districts in our state, we were faced with budget challenges that will impact our district in the foreseeable future. In February 2019 the Board approved a budget reduction scenario that included 4.5 million in staffing and operational cost reductions to put us in a healthier financial position.
Levy Request
The District is proposing an increase to the levy estimated at 30-cents per $1,000 of assessed value. This increase is a necessary measure to avoid deeper staff cuts and will lessen the impact on the District’s budget for the next two years.
- The legislature lifted the levy lid to $2.50 during the last legislative session, giving school districts authority to restore previously voter-approved levies rates.
- The proposed levy increase would provide about $806,000 in revenue for the 19-20 school year and $1.58 million for the 20-21 school year.
- The estimated 30-cent levy increase would is estimated to increase the levy rate from $1.50 to $1.80 for every $1,000 of assessed value.
Effect of No Levy Increase
- The District projects deeper additional staffing cuts will need to be made in 2020 and beyond if the estimated 30-cent levy increase is not approved.
- The District’s fund balance will decrease at a faster rate.
- The continued declining fund balance may lead to a bond credit rating downgrade.
Board Meetings
At the board meeting on February 26th, the Wenatchee School District Board of Directors took action and approved budget reduction Scenario #2. The attached pdf file contains all of the reductions included in Scenario #2.
02/06/19 School Board Budget Workshop
Board Priorities
The Wenatchee School Board identified their funding priorities for 2019-2020 during a workshop held on Wednesday, February 6. The District is facing an estimated $5.2 million budget deficit and will use the direction provided by the board to guide budget reductions.
During the workshop, District staff presented the findings of a recent online budget prioritization survey that was completed by over 1,000 people. The board used the data from the survey, as well as guided discussion of 5 different budget categories where reductions could be made to establish a direction.
The board provided the cabinet with general direction to preserve as many staff as possible and direct services to students, condense costs in programs, reduce additional pay (i.e., stipends, time sheets) and explore ways to consolidate administrative and classified services by spreading these across the system.
The cabinet will use the direction provided by the board to develop scenarios for making the reductions. Scenarios will be presented at the board’s regular meeting on February 12 at 6 p.m.
Survey Results
The purpose of the survey was to gather input from various stakeholder groups to identify district priorities that will be used to guide budget adjustments for 2019-2020. The dollar amounts from each category on the survey are outlined on the following slides that match the budget presentation in the following categories of additional pay, stipends, and programs.
Other groups that completed the survey to represent their group.
Stakeholder Meetings
January 17th, 2019
School Board Budget Workshop
ENGLISH - Click to view the narrated presentation in a separate window. (Closed Captioning is available click the CC button in lower left to toggle on/off)
SPANISH - Click to view the narrated presentation in a separate window. (Closed Captioning is not available)
Click the double arrow button in the upper right to view full screen.
January 23th, 2019 I 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Stakeholder Budget Informational Meeting
Budget presentation, Q&A, online survey
January 23th - February 3th, 2019
Online Survey
January 24th, 2019 I 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Stakeholder Budget Informational Meeting
Budget presentation, Q&A, online survey
January 29th, 2019 I 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Stakeholder Budget Informational Meeting
Budget presentation, Q&A, online survey
February 6th, 2019 I 5:00-7:00 p.m.
School Board Budget Workshop
The board uses the data collected through the online survey to set their own priorities which is used by the cabinet as a guide for creating budget adjustment proposals.
February 12th, 2019 I 6:00-8:00 p.m.
School Board Meeting
Review cabinet proposals for balancing 2019-20 budget and take action.
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.