Mead Budget "Frequently Asked Questions":
(Email questions to questions@mead.k12.wa.us)
Will Mead be closing schools like other school districts?
No. First of all, Mead School District does not have the capacity in any of its schools to house the number of students coming from any one of our others schools. We presently have to transfer about 1% of our students in order to address grade-level overcrowding and class size limits in several schools. Secondly, Mead continues to have modest student increases in all of its schools and does not foresee the student decline that would require closing a school.
What will the district reduce to make up for the lost state revenue?
Final decisions on district reductions will be made after the legislature and governor agree on a final state budget resolution for the next biennium (2009-2011). When addressing the shortfall from state revenues last fiscal year, Mead left some support-staff positions vacant, eliminated some administrative positions, cut back travel and summer building maintenance, and made adjustments to transportation routes and heating and cooling expenditures. In addition to maintaining those cuts, the proposed loss of revenue for this coming year may call for additional loss of staff and programs. The Mead School Board has already given a directive to district administrators to specify up to $5.1 million dollars in reductions from the budget for the next fiscal year (2009-2010). The district administration is presently in the process of working on the budget reduction issue. The major challenge, at this time, is not knowing the specific state program reductions and the overall amount of reduction Mead will have to deal with for the coming fiscal year.
Where does Mead School District get its money from?
Mead, like all school districts in the State of Washington, receives its revenue from three major sources; federal, state, and local. As the diagram below illustrates, the majority of our funds comes from the state, followed by local and federal funds. As you will see in the question immediately following this one, the percentages vary from district to district. The differing amounts depend on things such as poverty levels, special programs, bilingual factors, levy bases, and other factors.
Isn’t Basic Education protected? Why are there so many cuts?
In response to a lawsuit initiated in 1976, State Superior Court Judge Doran directed the state Legislature to define and fully fund a program of basic education. Funding was provided for each full-time equivalent student based on staff/student ratios and allocations for staff salaries, benefits, and nonemployee related costs. Subsequent court decisions in the 1980’s expanded the state’s basic education responsibility. Special education, bilingual education, institutional education, learning assistance program, and pupil transportation are now considered “basic” and the state funds the formulas defined in law. The adequacy of the funding provided by these formulas has been the subject of much study, debate and legal challenges since the education reform act passed in 1993.
Once a program is defined as “basic education,” it becomes part of the state’s on-going responsibility. As a consequence, funding increases are often labeled “enhancements to basic education” and therefore are not an on-going state responsibility, even though many of these “enhancements” have been funded by the state for many years. Examples of these would be K-4 enhancement, levy equalization and I-728 funds.
As a result, today, an estimated $9.1 million of the district’s $62.5 million state allocation is not considered basic education.
What is Levy Equalization?
Levy equalization, also referred to as Local Effort Assistance (LEA), is state matching money provided to districts who have passed local maintenance and operation levies and who have above average property tax rates due to lower than (statewide) average assessed valuations. In the 2008-09 budget Mead expects to receive $3,202,000 in levy equalization payments.
What is the K-4 Enhancement?
The K-4 enhancement is additional state funding provided to school districts to lower class size in kindergarten through fourth grade. To qualify for the additional funds districts must show that they are using the funding to lower class size. The formula currently funds 53.2 teachers for every 1,000 students in grades K-4. Funding may be lowered to fund only 49 teachers for every 1,000 students in grades K-3. Grades 5-12 are funded at 46 teaching positions for every 1,000 students. This change represents funding for 14 fewer teaching positions.
What is I-728?
Initiative 728 was passed by voters in 2000. The intent was to provide school districts additional money of up to $450 per student. Funds were to be used for lowering class size, providing extended time programs, such as before and after school tutoring programs, providing early childhood programs and professional development of the teaching staff. Mead will receive $4,084,000 in I-728 funds this fiscal year.
We passed the levy, why do we have to make cuts?
As shown above, the district’s revenue comes from local, state and federal sources. The renewal of our M & O levy, provides continuing local revenues for another three years. As was mentioned in the campaign, this was a renewal of an existing levy, not a new tax providing additional resources. Passage of the levy prevented the district from having to make further budget reductions. The current funding issues are related to state funding issues, not local funding, which has been supported by Mead’s citizens.
What impact will the federal stimulus money have on Mead School District?
While the federal stimulus money will help it will not have as large an impact as many people expected. A preliminary estimate that was published indicated that Mead was to get $2.1 million from the stimulus package. We have subsequently learned that the state will deduct 15% for administration, that it will be distributed over a period of three budget years and that it will be targeted to primarily the Title 1 and Special Education programs. In addition, it appears it will come with many “strings attached,” which could negatively affect Mead in other ways. At this time we are still trying to determine the full affect these funds may have on Mead.
Can’t we just spend down our reserves?
Mead has a long history of providing programs for students above the level of other districts in the area. We have been able to do this because of consistently high levels of community support for local levies and bonds. As a consequence Mead already operates with a lower level of reserves than all other districts in the area. Although this is an area we will be reviewing, a 2-3% cash balance is necessary in order to be able to make monthly payroll. Mead’s current fund balance is already within this range. Many districts have reserves above 5%.
Will budget cuts be proportional across all school districts in the state?
No. School districts statewide have different characteristics in student demographics (poverty levels), property valuations, enrollment trends, bilingual factors, geographic size, etc. As a result, state and federal funding levels vary significantly between districts.
Since this budget crunch is a state funding issue, districts that are more dependent on state revenues are likely to experience larger budget issues. This includes Mead School district, which receives a higher percent of our revenue from state sources that any comparable district.
What about administration?
Particularly in these times there is a lot of focus on administration and the growth of administrative positions in organizations. According to state reports, from 1999 to 2009 the Mead’s certificated administrative staff has grown by 2.2 FTE (full time equivalent). One of these positions is the principal position at our new elementary school, Prairie View. Another of these positions is the principal position, which was hired to manage Mead’s alternative education programs, M.E.A.D. and MEPP. Over the same time period, Mead School District has grown by approximately 1,284 students. There has also been a change of one classified administrator for the district, who supervises all custodial services throughout the district.
