School district facing shortfall for 2022-2023 - studying options for budget reductions

School Board study session May 3, 2022

By Diane Hettrick

Due to a significant decline in enrollment and therefore funding, the Shoreline School District will need to make reductions to balance the 2022-2023 budget. 

Deputy Superintendent Marla Miller and Director of Finance Mark Spangenberg shared a list of nearly 50 ideas generated by administrators with the School Board during the May 3, 2022 study session, but no actions were recommended nor were any decisions made. 

Possible reductions in library staffing or closing schools were among the list of ideas.

See the full list here

18 administrators submitted ideas for consideration. Deputy Superintendent Marla Miller grouped the ideas into categories and noted how many times the idea was suggested.

1. Recommend i.e this would be the right thing to do
2. I wonder - i.e. if there’s another way – do we have to do this
3. Pause i.e we could do this, then look at bringing it back when the enrollment and money increases

Some of the suggestions would involve contracts and bargaining. Others are actually funded by a different funding source.

Miller stressed that none of the ideas are firm. The purpose was to share ideas with the school board and get everyone started thinking about solutions.

Miller said "People value all the things on this list. But if we can’t afford it, these are the things we should look at."

The study session was held on Zoom and was recorded. It is publicly available on the school website and Vimeo channel for those who would like to see the conversation and context.

As families and students start to recover from the pandemic years, school enrollment is down everywhere. A recent analysis in The Seattle Times found that running start enrollments are down around the Sound. Shoreline Community College running start enrollments are down 13.5% and they are one of the lower percentages.