2022-23 Proposed Budget
Budget Development
Students are at the heart of our work and our decision making. While planning for this budget, we continue to be fiscally responsible and committed to student success.
Our principles for budget development:
- Prioritize student-focused activities and supports that allow us to hold true to our Core Values of Service, Excellence, and Equity as well as our priority areas of Family and Community Engagement, Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Removing Barriers.
- Consider the long-term academic and fiscal impacts of budget decisions.
- Provide adequate resources for operational support for our students, staffs, and schools.
Parameters:
The greatest share of a school district’s budget is devoted to personnel costs for salary and benefits. For our district as much as 85% of our budget goes to staff salary and benefits. Additionally, much of the funding from the state and federal government is designated, by law, to be used only for specific programs. This leaves little wiggle room for where we can make budget adjustments. Given this predicament, any significant changes will impact our staff. We are committed to maximize the educational impact for our students.
Our priority is to ensure equality of opportunity for all students and to continue to provide every student with an equal chance to succeed.
Budget Timeline
Items impacting the 2022-23 budget development process:
Traditional expenditure patterns are returning to the District's finances as we move into this budget development cycle. The threat of COVID 19 has subsided allowing the District's traditional operations to come back to life.
In March, 2022, the Washington State Legislature approved an Education budget that provided enhancements for School Districts in the areas of Social and Emotional Learning, support personnel in and around the classroom, and compensation changes appropriate for our changing environment. These enhancements are targeted to address ongoing needs within our schools. The primary challenge that the District continues to endure is delivering the best services to our students when they need them. Staffing shortages and inflationary increases are projected to impact this budget cycle. Services provided to our students come at a cost and those costs are turbulent to say the least.
Budgets can be complex. The products and services you see in our schools are recorded and processed in our finances everyday. The budget tells a story of what is to come illustrating priorities and objectives for the next fiscal year.
This activity and potential/projected changes are cumulated into budget documents shared with you in the column to the right. Explore them and ask questions.
Budget Documents _ Fiscal Year 2022-23
Proposed Budget Summaries
Proposed budget documents are provided as a detailed budget proposal for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The information presented in these documents will be presented to the Board in the 1st budget hearing on June 8, 2022.
Preliminary Budget Summaries
Preliminary budget documents are provided as a high level preliminary budget assessment for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The information presented in these documents were preliminary and have since been updated in the Proposed Budget Summary shown above.
Annual budgets are developed through a cyclical process involving many steps. Below is a current document synopsis of the progress of our budget development.
Budget Process Documents Provided for the Community and Board of Directors:
Initial budget information provided to the Board in our April 27th presentation:
