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Easton board adopts 2627 budget after public hearing; ALE enrollment drives new assumptions
Summary
After a public hearing, the Easton School District board unanimously adopted the district's 2627 budget, which budgets for a projected 300 FTE (including 250 OpenEd/ALE students), applies a 2.6 IPD (COLA) to payroll, and preserves a 20% minimum fund balance.
The Easton School District board voted to adopt the 2627 budget following a public hearing and discussion about OpenEd/ALE enrollment and state funding. The motion to adopt was made and seconded during the meeting and carried with ayes recorded by the board.
During the public hearing, Nicole, the district finance presenter, told the board the district's projected enrollment for 2627 is 300 FTE: "70 of that FTEs are normal K–12 kiddos, and we added an additional 250 ALE kiddos." She said the district budgeted a 2.6 IPD (also described as a COLA) for payroll and set levy collections at $0.23 per $1,000. Nicole also said the ALE program is a major new revenue source for the district, adding in her presentation that "we got, in our budget an additional $2,200,000 in the ALE funding." (The presenter used both $2,200,000 and later $2,600,000 when describing ALE revenue in different slides; the transcript shows both figures and the board did not reconcile the discrepancy on the record.)
Nicole explained the budgetary effect of the ALE program on reserves: because the district maintains a minimum fund balance policy of 20%, "our ending fund balance for 2627 ... will be higher than it currently is," driven in part by required reserve calculations. She also reported the district is not fully funded by the state on the presented assumptions: "The amount of budgeted state funding is $263,000. The amount that the district plans in our budget spend on is 888,000, leaving a difference of $624,000."
Board members asked clarifying questions about the 250 ALE projection and the conservative nature of the estimate; Nicole said the figure was conservative and based on OSPI apportionment timing. After questions, the board adjourned the budget hearing and later approved the full budget by motion during regular business.
Actions taken: a motion to adopt the 2627 budget was made and seconded and recorded as approved by the board in the meeting transcript. The board also approved related routine agenda items during the same meeting.
