School board passes 2008-09 budget

Roxanne Cooke

The Sumner School Board passed a $76.2 million budget last week for the 2008-09 school year.

At last Wednesday’s board meeting, the budget passed without comment, said district spokeswoman Ann Cook. The board is involved during most of the process, so members had already reviewed a proposed budget in July and had no further input for staff.

“It’s a collaborative process all along,” she said.

A public hearing in July elicited no comments.

District staff aimed for a budget that closed the gap between expenditures and revenues, despite the impact of increasing fuel costs and lower-than-anticipated enrollment, Cook said. The district estimates 220 fewer students than were projected for the coming school year.

“This year one of the goals was to bring a balanced budget to the school board,” she said.

Though there are 11 fewer teaching positions for the 2008-09 school year, attrition outpaced staffing levels and there were no lay-offs, Cook said. The district hired 43 new staff members.

This year’s budget increase from last year’s $71.9 million reflects a 5.1 percent state-mandated salary raise for certificated staff and a 4.4 percent salary increase for classified staff, as well as an increase in benefits, she said. Revenue streams didn’t cover that increase completely, so $6 million local levy dollars were used to help.

“The two biggest challenges that the board had to look at was to close the gap between revenue and expenditures because the state doesn’t fully fund us,” Cook said in July.

New fees and fewer bus runs are helping to increase revenue. That includes an athletic participation fee that will add an estimated $50,000 to the budget. A facility rental increase of 10 percent will provide an extra $15,000. The new kindergarten schedule eliminates a midday bus run, which will save the district another $50,000.

Staff salaries and benefits make up 85 percent of the budget.

Assistant Superintendent Craig Spencer will provide an enrollment and budget update to the school board in September. If there are significantly fewer or more students showing up to school than were projected, budget adjustments may be made at that time.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information or to view the full 2008-09 school year budget, visit www.sumner.wednet.edu.