Vancouver School District warns of continued budget stress as special-education shortfall tops $44 million

Vancouver School District officials told the school board on Monday night that the district is waiting for the Legislature to finish its budget before firming up staffing plans for 2025–26 and that long-running underfunding in special education and non‑salary costs has built a multi‑year gap the district is still addressing.

The district’s budget lead, Bridal (staff member), told the board that “about 85% of our budget is salary and benefits,” and that the gap between what the state funds and the district pays has widened over several years. “We may have to make some reductions this year. It's too early to tell but they will not be anywhere near the scale of reductions that we had last year,” Bridal said.

Why it matters: The board was given numbers showing six‑year shortfalls the district attributes to the state funding formula. The presentation said the district has accumulated roughly $44,000,000 of unmet special‑education costs over six years and about $7,100,000 in accumulated non‑salary costs (utilities and insurance), for a combined shortfall near $51,000,000.

District officials said last year’s painful reductions — about 9% of the budget — were driven by an accumulation of systemic budget pressures and one‑time federal COVID relief that has since expired. Bridal said the district used fund‑balance reserves to delay cuts as long as possible and that this year, the worst realistic scenario they expect would be around a 2% reduction in the total budget if the state budget is “really, really disastrously poor.” The board was told the district is not planning a certificated reduction‑in‑force this year and expects to manage most contraction through attrition, retirements and normal leaves of absence if necessary.

Officials stressed several structural drivers of the gap: - Special education: The district said the state funding model recognizes only up to 16% of students for special‑education funding; costs above that level are borne locally until a high‑cost safety net is triggered, creating a funding gap as more students require intensive services. - MSOC (non‑salary) costs: Rising insurance, utilities and materials that the state funding formula has not kept pace with. - Substitute and transportation costs: Growing local pressures not fully reimbursed by state funding.

Bridal told the board that legislative uncertainty — the Senate and House budget proposals still diverged — kept district planning on hold until the Legislature concludes. “We’re indexing towards April 27, which is sine die for the Legislature, which we hope they'll finish on time and have a final budget for us,” Bridal said. If the Legislature misses that date and goes into a special session, the district said it would have to begin staffing rebalancing earlier and with a more pessimistic assumption, which could add anxiety and wasted work if funding is restored later.

Board discussion and context: Board members urged continued advocacy with state legislators. Director (unnamed) noted the district’s local levy and bond support helps Vancouver plug funding gaps that other, less‑resourced districts cannot. District staff asked trustees and community members to contact legislators about the special‑education shortfall.

What’s next: District staff said a final staffing recommendation will follow once the state budget is finalized and that a public hearing and final budget adoption will occur this summer per state law.

Ending note: Officials characterized this year’s potential cuts as much smaller than last year’s reductions but warned the district faces continuing fiscal pressure if the state does not address the long‑term funding shortfalls.