Tumwater officials outline budget squeeze, propose limits on athletic travel and ASB spending

Tumwater School District financial staff told the board the district expects to finish the fiscal year narrowly negative without a short-term interfund loan and will repay that loan by Aug. 31, but will likely ask the board to approve a new loan for the coming school year.

The budget presentation also flagged a decline in student counts compared with last year and an unusually large Associated Student Body (ASB) fund balance that has roughly doubled since 2017. District staff proposed tighter rules on district-paid transportation for extracurricular events, a possible helmet fee for athletics, and clearer rules about when ASB proceeds must reimburse general-fund expenses.

Kara Acker, the district’s director of financial services, said the district will “pay the loan off in, by the August. By August 31, we'll have that paid off,” and added the district expects larger apportionment payments in July and August that will allow repayment. She told the board the district projects needing another loan for the fall depending on enrollment.

Assistant administrators and budget leads walked the board through enrollment trends: June’s count was 78 students lower than the prior year (excluding Running Start and New Market Skill Center), and monthly enrollment fell steadily through spring. That trend reduces state apportionment revenue and is a main driver of this year’s deficit projection.

Staff said the ASB fund has grown to near or above $1 million in recent years. The administration proposed a one-year review to reassign certain recurring costs (for example, some transportation and operational expenses) to the ASB fund when the activity principally benefits ASB-funded programs, and to require reimbursement to the general fund where the district currently covers costs that support ASB revenue generation. The presentation also suggested establishing clearer distance and frequency limits for district-paid buses — for example, discouraging routine district bus trips for very short local contests and setting a default guideline under which league contests beyond a district-defined radius could be expected to be funded by ASB or boosters.

Board members pressed staff for more data before approving specific changes. Director Ty asked how the policy would affect middle‑school and non-athletic activities such as band, choir and drama; staff said the initial conversation has focused on athletics but that any rules would need to address equity across programs. Director Jill urged staff to provide cost comparisons (per‑bus and per‑trip) and the likely savings of using alternatives such as carpooling, booster-funded buses, or shared transportation agreements with community partners.

Kara Acker also briefed the board on a change from the legislature: districts will not pay interest on next year’s short-term loans, which lowers general‑fund pressure. The administration said it will send the preliminary budget for technical review to the Educational Service District by early July and return to the board for two public hearings in August before adoption.

The board asked staff to return with: (1) detailed cost estimates for proposed transportation changes; (2) analysis of how moving particular expenses between the general fund and ASB would affect fees such as pay‑to‑play and helmet reconditioning; and (3) options for using community partners or transit vans where feasible. Staff said they will share preliminary materials in July so board members can review before final hearings.

Implementation & next steps: staff will submit a technical budget to the ESD before July 10, refine assumptions about enrollment and the loan amount, and present the draft budget and the proposed ASB/transportation rule updates at summer board meetings.