Financial Future
Dear ECCS Community,
I want to share important information about the current state of education funding and the challenges we are facing as a school district. While the 2023 legislative session brought a historic increase in education funding, many districts, including ours, continue to face significant budget constraints. You might be wondering why this is the case.
The reality is that several key factors are creating a difficult financial environment for schools, despite the funding increases.
1. Funding Hasn't Kept Up With Inflation
Though we received a 4% increase in the education funding formula for the 2023-24 school year and an additional 2% for 2024-25, this still falls short of keeping pace with inflation. If the basic funding formula had kept up with inflation since 2003, we would have an additional $1,356 per pupil in FY25. Local Optional Revenue (LOR), another key funding source, has been frozen since inception, leaving us $196 per pupil behind where we would be if it had kept pace with inflation. Together, the basic formula and LOR make up approximately 75% of our district’s general education revenue—the funds we rely on for essential operations like staff salaries, transportation, and day-to-day costs.
2. New Requirements and Mandates
The 2023 legislative session also introduced a number of new programs and requirements for school districts, some of which were funded, others partially funded, and many with no funding at all. These include universal meals for students, summer unemployment benefits for non-certified hourly workers, and additional professional development for paraprofessionals. While many of these initiatives are positive and support our students and staff, they come with added costs and a significant increase in the demands on our staff’s time.
3. Rising Costs and Staffing Challenges
Inflation has impacted nearly every area of our budget—utilities, transportation, supplies, and insurance have all increased in cost. Additionally, we are facing staff challenges in hard to hire areas, which has led to salary increases across several job categories in order to retain and attract the workforce needed to support our students. On top of that, significant changes to the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA) are likely to add further costs.
4. The End of Federal COVID Relief Funds
During the pandemic, federal relief funds allowed us to avoid significant budget cuts. However, these funds are not a permanent solution, and they are winding down over the next year. As we look ahead to the 2024-25 school year, we are facing an approximately $4 million estimated budget shortfall, and we will need to make adjustments as part of a multi-year process to right-size our budget.
5. Increased Salary and Benefits
As we continue to prioritize the well-being and success of our students, we also recognize the vital role our staff plays in achieving these goals. Recently, we have made adjustments to salary and benefits across all bargaining units to ensure that we continue to attract and retain the dedicated professionals who serve our students each day. While these increases reflect our commitment to fair compensation, they also present budgetary challenges that we must navigate carefully. We remain dedicated to maintaining a balanced budget while upholding the high standards of education our community expects.
In the coming months, we will work diligently to gather feedback from staff and the community to determine how best to manage this shortfall. Our goal remains to minimize the impact on any one school, grade level, or department, while ensuring we continue to provide a high-quality education for all students.
For more information, please refer to the September 30th Board Meeting: https://vimeo.com/1000584737.
I understand that these are challenging times, but I remain confident in our ability to navigate this together. Your support and engagement are more important than ever as we make decisions that will shape the future of our district as we continue to carry our district's torch together.
Thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to our students.
In Partnership,
Dr. Erin Rathke
Superintendent
