Cuts made by the Legislature mean a loss of $1.6 million to Renton School District

Staff in the district’s finance department have been working hard to make sense of the budget numbers coming out of Olympia. Legislators cut school funding statewide by about $120 million which translates to a loss in the Renton School District of about $1.6 million.

One of the programs dropped by law makers is the Better Schools program which reduces class size in K-4 classrooms. Money from that program funded about 10 teachers, teacher’s aids or counselors in Renton elementary schools. The dollar amount lost in that program alone is more than $400,000. One Learning Improvement Day was also cut, which, along with an increase in out-of-pocket health care costs, all but wipes out the voter approved 3.6 percent salary increase for teachers and other school employees.

Some programs were lumped together in a “Flexibility Fund” category and were reduced by 25 percent across the board, leaving district’s to decide which programs they can afford to keep and which they will be forced to live with out.

Those programs include:

The loss in funding will make all the more difficult the annual budget process school district’s undertake to ensure money is going to programs that promote student achievement. Superintendent Dolores Gibbons, along with the district’s executive management team, has begun preliminary work to look at losses in programs and funding and the impact they have on next year’s budget. The district’s Budget Advisory Committee, made up of staff, parents and community members, also will begin the process of deciphering the numbers and helping to draft next year’s budget.