Lake Washington School Board Plans to Use Levy Funds to Fill Budget Gaps

Lake Washington School District officials said Monday they plan to use local levy dollars to avoid teacher layoffs and help fill in budget gaps left by state cuts to education funding.

The LWSD Board of Directors heard the first reading of its proposed 2011-2012 budget at its Monday meeting, and officials did not hesitate to rebuke legislators for the cuts they made in the recently passed two-year state spending plan and over the course of the past several years.

"It's a real problem if we intend to truly get our students to be future-ready and, frankly, attract businesses to do business in this state," Superintendent Chip Kimball said. "If we can't find our state (government) willing to either, A, fund education adequately or, B, give us license to fund it ourselves—one or the other—we are going to be in a freefall that will hurt us economically for decades." 

LWSD officials plan to make up for a $4.6 million loss in state revenue for class sizes reduction and teacher salaries by using levy funds and reducing staff through attrition. Their plan calls for a decrease of about 17 teacher positions and a average classroom size increase of approximately one student in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Board members said Monday they realize they are using levy dollars that were intended for enrichment and other purposes to fund basic expenditures, but they said the move is necessary to continue to prioritize low class sizes and avoid laying off teachers. The reallocation will not affect funding for capital levy projects, such as the new secondary STEM school.

Since 2009, state cuts to funding for class size reduction have amounted to more than $13 million, including $2.6 million for the 2011-12 budget. The school district has used levy dollars and budget cuts in other areas to maintain class sizes for the past few years, but officials said their ability to fill in the gaps does not mean the cuts will not have an impact elsewhere.

"As we weather this and absorb these cuts year after year for the past several years now, it has impacted so many other things that we would normally try and do, and what was intended to be done with levy monies," said board member Nancy Bernard (District 3). "Our parents are paying fees for many things ... I don't want people to think we haven't had to make sacrifices in order to keep our teachers whole in this way."

Along with the decrease in funding for class size reductions, the state budget also translates into $2 million in cuts for salary funding in the district's proposed 2011-2012 budget. District spokeswoman Kathryn Reith said Monday that LWSD officials are in the process of negotiating with union officials to try to find a way to avoid pay cuts.

Reith said one scenario that is being discussed would call on teachers to work extra non-classroom days. The added training will be needed because of the district's upcoming plans for , she said, and the extra compensation would come from levy funds that have been set aside to help pay for that transition.

"We're essentially filling in with levy dollars to keep staff from having to take a cut," she said.

No decisions have yet been made with any groups regarding teacher compensation, Reith added.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will take place at the Aug. 8 school board meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the L.E. Scarr Resource Center, 16250 NE 74th St. in Redmond. The school board is also expected to take action on the spending plan at that meeting.

To view a summary of the 2011-2012 draft budget, click here.