Peninsula School District sees September enrollment above budget; CFO cautions on multi-year shifts

At the Sept. 23 meeting the Peninsula School District's chief financial officer, Ashley Murphy, presented month-end July financials and a September enrollment snapshot, saying the district is tracking near budget but will continue monitoring accruals and the October official count.

Murphy reported year-to-date revenues as of July 31 were about 93% of anticipated revenues and said July and August are the largest state apportionment collection months. The July snapshot showed an apparent ending fund balance near 9.6% on a cash basis, but Murphy warned that accruals of expenses and federal grant revenues in September and October typically change that figure.

On enrollment, Murphy said September actuals were 77 full-time-equivalent students above the 2025-26 budgeted roll-up, an encouraging sign for near-term revenues. She also said the district is down about 20 student FTE compared with last year's annual average FTE, reflecting a multi-year decline in some elementary grades even as kindergarten and some middle-school grades increased. "If you look at kindergarten, we are 24 kids over what we had budgeted for kindergarten for last year," Murphy said. "Overall, the district is down 20 student FTE from where we were last year."

Murphy said kindergarten gains are partly offsetting a decline of about 101 students in grades 1'5. The middle grades (6'8) were up about 57 students; high school counts were roughly unchanged compared with last year at the time of the September snapshot. The CFO stressed that October is the formal count month used for state and federal funding calculations and that districts typically see enrollment and revenue swings during September and October as accrual entries are finalized.

Murphy noted that within the Puget Sound ESD service area most districts are reporting enrollment below budget this year; Peninsula's relative growth was notable. The district plans to present further enrollment disaggregation and program-level trends in next month's report.

Board members asked questions about cash flow, roofing and compliance costs, and the Clean Buildings Act; Murphy said those issues are being monitored as budget priorities are reassessed.