Board reviews proposed budget cuts<\/b><\/p>\n
The Kent School Board this week got its first look at the district administration\u2019s latest budget, which is designed to meet a projected $2.6 million gap between expected revenues and expenditures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to stay even, we have to make cuts,\u201d said John Knutson, the district\u2019s executive director of finance. \u201cIt\u2019s a tight budget this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
To meet the shortfall, the district anticipates a 20-percent across-the-board cut to department administration budgets in non-labor and miscellaneous labor costs, such as overtime and special programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always, of course, look to make cuts as far from the classroom as we can,\u201d Knutson said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the budget is so tight this year that the district will have to cut the per pupil funding amount by approximately $8 each, according to Knutson. Those cuts could result in reductions in travel funds and professional development.<\/p>\n
The source of the budget gap comes from both the revenue and expenditure ledgers of the district\u2019s books.<\/p>\n
On the revenue side, the Kent School District \u2013 like many others around the state \u2013 has seen less funding coming in as the state levels out its apportionment money. Also, this year the district saw only a small increase in the funds it receives from Initiative 728, a measure passed by voters in 2000 to help reduce class sizes.<\/p>\n
According to Knutson, the district had routinely seen yearly increases of $1.5 million to $2.5 million, but this year\u2019s I-728 increase was \u201cminor.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the expenditure side, the district saw increased costs from state-mandated raises to salaries and benefits, which constitute 85 percent of the district budget. The budget also took a \u201creal hit,\u201d according to Knutson, when the state raised retirement rates, increasing the amount the district must pay for locally-funded employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year alone we saw a 36-percent increase in retirement rates,\u201d Knutson said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big jump.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the state-mandated cost-of-living increases for teachers and other certified staff are covered in the state funding formula, the district must pay out of its own levy funds to match those raises for non-\u201dformula staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cost-of-living increase this year is approximately 6.5 percent, but levy funds are only up 4 percent, according to Knutson. That means the school district will get more money from the state, but will still have to make budget cuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to keep the same level of services because of that,\u201d Knutson said.<\/p>\n
Other costs \u2013 such as food, utilities and fuel for the district\u2019s 120 buses \u2013 also continue to increase, much as they do in households around the region and country.<\/p>\n
Board President Bill Boyce said there were \u201clots of challenges\u201d for putting together this year\u2019s budget, and compared the difficulties facing the district to those faced by families everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike my family, there are times we have to make an adjustment to live within our means,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is our job as board members to make sure we are good stewards of taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boyce also said it was important to the board to make sure the district keeps a 5-percent fund balance in place \u2014 money that represents approximately 10 days worth of funding for the district. Keeping that balance is \u201ccritical\u201d to district financial health, he said, adding that the district needs the funds as a contingency against sudden, unexpected costs, like a drastic increase in fuel prices.<\/p>\n
The district is also looking into its facilities management, and could raise the fees for community use of buildings, according to Knutson. Currently, the district charges a \u201cnominal fee\u201d for use of a building.<\/p>\n
Learn more<\/b><\/p>\n
The Kent School District Board of Directors will host a public hearing on the proposed budget at 7 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Administration Center, 12033 S.E. 256th St. For more information, visit www.kent.k12.wa.us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Kent School Board this week got its first look at the district administration\u2019s latest budget, which is designed to meet a projected $2.6 million gap between expected revenues and expenditures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-13267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13267"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}