Snoqualmie Valley School District adopts 2025-26 budget, funds expanded early learning center
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Summary
The Snoqualmie Valley School District Board of Directors unanimously adopted the district’s 2025-26 budget Aug. 14, approving a spending plan that includes expanded preschool capacity at the new Early Learning Center and a modest draw on fund balance while projecting slight enrollment declines over the next four years.
The Snoqualmie Valley School District Board of Directors on Aug. 14 unanimously adopted the district’s 2025-26 budget, approving appropriation levels the district will submit to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
District staff presented the budget at a public hearing before the vote. "On the bottom line, I'll just say that the budget went farther away from balance when we showed in July," Ryan Stokes, a district staff member who presented the plan, told the board. Stokes said the primary increases since the July review were added capacity for a districtwide elementary English language arts curriculum adoption and additional budget capacity to cover rising special-education costs.
The budget package approved by the board increases personnel in several areas, Stokes said, including more certificated and classified positions to staff the newly opened Early Learning Center (ELC), additional supervision at elementary schools (elementary deans), a safety associate director, and transportation hires including a transportation technician and more bus drivers. The ELC expansion will raise preschool capacity: Stokes said the district will move from five preschool classrooms at Snoqualmie Elementary School to seven classrooms overall at the ELC and will operate three licensed daycare classrooms. The district estimates serving roughly 130 preschool/daycare children when the program is fully used.
Stokes summarized fund-level changes in the budget: "a slight draw on fund balance in the general fund, a slight draw on ASB, anticipated draw on the debt service fund," and capacity in the capital projects and transportation vehicle funds to allow bus purchases and capital work. He told the board the projected draw on the district’s fund balance for 2025-26 is about $500,000 and would keep the district within the board’s target reserve range of roughly 10–11 percent.
Stokes also reviewed the district’s four-year projection and the assumptions behind it, saying he expects a modest enrollment decline of about 2 percent per year over the next three years. "About a 2% reduction in enrollment is about 15 fewer staff," he said, explaining the projection assumes roughly two certificated reductions for every classified reduction and that staffing reductions would be phased. The projection assumes levies rise by the state’s inflationary IPD factor; board members discussed whether to consider higher levy increases when the district next refreshes its levies.
On state funding, Stokes highlighted adjustments to special-education and MSOC (material, supplies and other costs) funding. He said the district anticipates receiving about $10,200,000 in MSOC funding from the state while projecting MSOC expenditures near $16,000,000, which the district must show to meet a reporting requirement for that state allocation.
Board members questioned licensing and operational details for the daycare classrooms and asked about midyear assessments if the program costs exceed estimates. Stokes said the preschool currently is supported in part by the local levy and that the district will monitor costs and enrollment during the year and adjust tuition, staffing or program mix as needed.
The board approved the appropriation levels contained in the budget resolution and directed staff to sign and submit the adopted budget to OSPI. No members of the public offered comment during the hearing.
Votes at a glance
- Resolution 893 — Adoption of 2025-26 budget: motion to adopt made and seconded; passed unanimously. (Resolution requires signature and filing with OSPI.) - Consent agenda (includes a $2,243.51 donation from the Mount Si Tennis Boosters for Mount Si High School boys tennis uniforms): motion to approve consent agenda made and seconded; passed unanimously. - Routine agenda/minutes approvals (agenda, minutes of July 10 and Aug. 4 meetings): motions made and seconded; passed (one abstention recorded on July 10 minutes due to absence).
Board action and next steps
The board’s adoption of Resolution 893 sets the district’s 2025-26 appropriations and authorizes the spending levels staff presented at the public hearing. Stokes said the district will print and sign the resolution and send it to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Board members said they intend to examine levy-refresh options in coming months in light of enrollment trends, cost pressures and the district’s reserves.
The board also recognized district staff, technology teams and teachers for recent professional development focused on artificial intelligence and other instructional technology. The board adjourned after announcing upcoming district events, including the opening ceremony for the Early Learning Center.
