School closure may not be enough to fix Shoreline Schools' budget crisis
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
By Oliver Moffat
On Monday September 23, 2024 Shoreline School District Superintendent Susana Reyes met with members of the community to discuss the district’s budget crisis.
Like other school districts across the state, the Shoreline School District is facing a budget emergency. The district says costs will exceed revenues by over $4 million this year and without action, that budget shortfall could exceed $9 million dollars in four years.
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| A graph from Superintendent Reyes’ presentation shows the district could enter “binding conditions” without budget cuts |
Earlier this year, the district assembled the School Capacity Review and Closure Consideration committee to recommend whether or not to close one of the district’s ten elementary schools and if so, which one. The final decision will be up to the elected School Board and Superintendent Dr. Susana Reyes.
In June, the task force selected four schools for final closure consideration (Brookside, Echo Lake, Highland Terrace, and Syre elementary schools) and is expected to make a final recommendation soon.
According to the district, closing a school would save $1.2 to $1.3 million per year, but with employee compensation accounting for 87% of the district’s $182 million budget, shuttering one elementary will likely be necessary but insufficient to fix the budget gap.
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| A graph from Superintendent Reyes’ presentation shows student enrollment numbers are expected to continue to decline |
The district has already made labor cuts - eliminating some non-classroom positions such as office staff, library techs, family advocates, custodians, and maintenance staff.
And in 2022, the teacher’s union agreed to a two-year concession that reduced pay and allowed larger class sizes.
Despite the McCleary decision, in which the state Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to increase funding for schools, Washington still lags behind other states in adequately funding K-12 education.
Despite the McCleary decision, in which the state Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to increase funding for schools, Washington still lags behind other states in adequately funding K-12 education.
According to School Financial Data, relative to Washington’s economic output, the state spends less to fund public schools than the national average.
The public can attend online community budget meetings on September 26 and October 1. The School Capacity Review and Closure Consideration committee meets monthly and the public can attend regular School Board Meetings on Tuesdays.
Parents can join their school’s PTA and advocate for legislative change.
The local chapter of the Washington Eduction Association will host a Town Hall on the funding crisis in the Edmonds, Northshore, and Shoreline school districts on October 23.
A November ballot measure (2109) if approved by voters would repeal the state’s capital gains tax, which collects up to $500 million per year for schools.
The public can attend online community budget meetings on September 26 and October 1. The School Capacity Review and Closure Consideration committee meets monthly and the public can attend regular School Board Meetings on Tuesdays.
Parents can join their school’s PTA and advocate for legislative change.
The local chapter of the Washington Eduction Association will host a Town Hall on the funding crisis in the Edmonds, Northshore, and Shoreline school districts on October 23.
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10 comments:
Let's tear down more schools and build new ones (cough)
Sell Shoreline Center and move the admin staff to the schools. With Zoom and email, there's not a real reason for concentrating everyone at the immense Shoreline Center. And, if office staff are actually in the schools, they'll have a daily picture of how their decisions impact learning.
I smell a school levy coming. When you are invited to a cozy chat with union reps you just know the second shoe is about the drop.
What's their plan for keeping and/or attracting families to Shoreline schools? Because, that'd bring in more revenue. But, that doesn't seem to be their plan.
I hope there's a levy increase coming. It's badly needed. Anything else is either a temporary fix (e.g., selling property) or reduces quality of service (e.g., laying off staff, cutting programs). The problem is insufficient funding from the state, not overspending.
Where will u place that many staff? All schools busting at the seams as it is.
Selling district buildings may not help the general fund balance. Sale proceeds from capital (buildings and land) are to be maintained separately in the district's capital projects fund, generally speaking.
Since we're talking about education, definitions matter. A capital gains tax is a type of income tax, which is prohibited by the state constitution. When the legislature passed the capital gains tax in 2021, it called it an excise tax to get around the prohibition. The governor rubber stamped it, and the state supreme court full of the governor's appointees did the same thing.
Washington state is the only jurisdiction on the planet where a capital gains tax is not correctly referred to as an income tax. It's a product of deceitful legislating by the only party that has any power.
I don't think this district really cares about attracting students. When we were looking at high schools for our kid, it was incredibly difficult to get any information from the district. We put our student in a private school - so, there goes the state funding for him, any money we'd put toward things like PTA, and our volunteer time.
I am with you. The district continues to do an excellent job at a massive lack of customer service, family connection and their ambivalence about student retention is shocking. It has shown us that our kids too, will soon be headed to private school and running start.
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