Peninsula School Board approves $5 million transfer, extends 2024-25 general fund to reconcile levy accounting

The Peninsula School District Board of Directors on July 15 approved a one-time budget extension for the 2024–25 fiscal year and a transfer of Safety, Security and Technology (SS&T) levy funds from the capital projects fund to the general fund to reimburse expenditures that did not meet capitalization thresholds.

The extension, adopted as Resolution 25-06, raises the district's 2024–25 revenue estimate to about $166 million and expenditures to about $171 million, leaving a projected ending fund balance of about $10.5 million, or roughly 6.1% of expenditures. The board approved a separate measure, Resolution 25-07, authorizing a transfer of SS&T levy proceeds — roughly $5 million — from the capital projects fund to the general fund to pay for technology and safety items already expensed in the general fund.

The transfer and extension are accounting measures tied to the district’s recent SS&T capital levy. Ashley Murphy, staff member, told the board that levy proceeds are deposited into the capital projects fund but that many purchases — for example, staff laptops and some classroom technology — do not meet the district’s capitalization threshold and therefore were paid and recorded in the general fund. “Everything is properly accounted for,” Murphy said, explaining that the resolutions will allow the district to repay the general fund from capital project balances.

Chris Bishop, staff member, presented the revised budget figures and explained how the district updated its beginning fund balance, revised revenue and expenditure estimates, and built a 6% fund balance cushion to manage cash flow during upcoming contract-driven payroll increases. Bishop said the original beginning fund balance projection was about $13.5 million; the actual beginning balance was roughly $15.5 million. He reported the revised ending balance of about $10.5 million and said the 6% level was intentional to prepare for September–October payrolls while awaiting levy receipts.

Bishop and Murphy identified revenue and expenditure drivers for the extension: higher-than-projected student enrollment, increased insurance recoveries (about $450,000 for the year), a $300,000 transportation true-up from the state, and a one-time $50 per-student legislative allocation (about $418,000). On the expenditure side, the SS&T levy supports two program buckets: a basic-education portion for classroom devices and teacher/student technology (about $2.7 million) and a district-wide portion for IT infrastructure, professional learning, cybersecurity and safety infrastructure (about $2.3 million). Special education and school food services also required additional expenditure capacity ($718,000 and $800,000, respectively) because actual costs exceeded prior budgeted appropriation.

Murphy said the district has set up accounting infrastructure — separate account codes and transfer procedures — so future SS&T-related reimbursements will occur monthly and will not require a board resolution once built into next year’s approved budget. “So moving forward, each of these monthly transfers is not going to require resolution,” Murphy said. She added that the year-end lump-sum transfer was needed this first year to backfill general fund charges incurred before the capital-to-general transfer mechanics were fully operational.

After a public hearing with no speakers, the board moved and approved Resolution 25-06 (budget extension) and Resolution 25-07 (SS&T transfer). The motions passed by voice vote; board members present voted in favor. The board chair declared both motions carried.

The board’s action is procedural: it does not change the district’s levy rate or levy authority, but it authorizes budgeted transfers and increased expenditure appropriations to match recorded activity for 2024–25. The district said it will show monthly transfers and disbursements for SS&T in future fiscal operations once the accounting processes are fully implemented.

Looking ahead, staff said the district will include routine SS&T transfers in next year’s budget documents and that only the initial year required a separate resolution because of the one-time accounting setup.