King's Board details $9 million in potential cuts if proposed 1% earned-income tax and 1-mill property reduction fail

King's Board of Education officials on a special meeting night laid out what they called a ‘‘pathway’’ to balance next year’s budget if voters reject a combined ballot measure that pairs a 1% earned-income tax (EIT) with a 1-mill property-tax reduction. The district estimated the EIT would generate about $12,500,000 in the first year and that the property-tax reduction would return roughly $1,500,000 to property owners, producing a net of about $11,000,000 in year one.

District presenters said that without new revenue the district faces approximately $9,000,000 in reductions that would begin in the next school year and could affect services across K–12. Officials listed potential cuts and offsets that include eliminating high-school busing and shrinking routes, converting full-day kindergarten to half-day, instituting pay-to-play participation fees for athletics and activities, reducing custodial and support staff, and trimming special-education and enrichment services.

“Our purpose tonight was to share the facts openly and to show the reality of where we are,” said a district presenter during the meeting. The presentation framed the listed reductions as a pathway—not as final decisions—if the ballot measure does not pass, and district staff repeatedly said final choices would be subject to further board discussion and statutory constraints.

Transportation was a…