04/23/2008: "$820K SJI School Funding Shortfall"

The San Juan Island School District is facing a challenging budget development process for the 2008-09 school year. The District has set up two community meetings for public participation.

The first meeting was on April 23rd, andl reviewed state education funding issues and how they impact the school district for the 2008-09 school year.

A second meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 1st, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. and it will consider what specific program reductions may be required.

The SJI School District is not alone in facing a funding problem. Estimates by the Washington Association of School Administrators are that school districts in the State of Washington face a $100 million shortfall this year. The problem, they say, is “due to under-funded salary increases by the legislature and other program reductions passed during the 2008 session.”

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According to Michael Soltman, Superintendent of the San Juan Island School District, “current estimates are that we will need to reduce our program budget by $820,000 in order to produce a balanced budget for next year.”

The funding shortfall is due in part to “the State’s failure to fully fund raises and basic education programs, declining enrollment, special education costs, and staffing added this year to meet program and operational needs.” In a press release, Soltman stated that “clearly, the entire state is facing a funding crisis in education that can only be addressed by leadership in our state legislature.

Dr. Bill Keim, ESD 113 Superintendent in Olympia, states in a recent article that, "Based on data available through the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1993 Washington ranked 11th in it’s adjusted per student expenditure. In 2005, according to data presented in the 2008 Quality Counts report, Washington State had slid to a ranking of 44th with a total per student expenditure of $7,432. Moving Washington back into the 11th ranked position would require an additional $2,553 per student or a total of $2.46 billion dollars."

Estimates by the Washington Association of School Administrators are that school districts in the State of Washington face a $100 million shortfall this year due to under funded salary increases by the legislature and other program reductions passed during the 2008 session. Dr. Jerry Jenkins, our ESD 189 Superintendent estimates that the NWESD region’s thirty-five school districts face more than a $28 million dollar shortfall related to under funded raises.