The Olympia School District (OSD) Board expressed no objections to Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s recommendation of excluding school closure as an option to supplement the district’s current budget deficit.
At the board's meeting on Thursday, April 25, Murphy recommended Plan 1, an “Administrative Plan to Get to a Balanced Budget Without School Closures.”
For an estimated total savings of $1,697,200, Plan 1 would reduce central office costs by 10%, furlough central office leadership, restructure or eliminate most staff roles, adjust outdoor education duration, pass credit card fees onto consumers for events, reduce contingency budgets and consider facility rental fees.
Previously, the board was considering a plan aimed at balancing the budget by closing Madison and McKenny Elementary Schools with an estimated cost savings of approximately $1.8 million.
“I recommend Plan 1. After receiving increased revenue during the most recent legislative session, the fiscal challenges faced by the district to reach a minimum fund balance for [the] school year 2024-25 significantly improved. That increased revenue and savings captured in lower staffing allocations based on decreased enrollment projections also improved our fiscal forecast,” Murphy wrote in the administrative budget options document.
According to the document, the district strives to balance support for school staff while meeting regulatory requirements and safeguarding resources. Additional positions and responsibilities that could be shifted to principals or other remaining staff are being evaluated.
“While fiscal flexibility and agility may be reduced, it would allow for all schools to remain open, including McKenny and Madison, for the next few years while enrollment is closely monitored and increased revenue streams are explored and pursued,” added Murphy.
The presented budget assumptions are based on analysis and information known to date, and the final budget to be presented in June may vary as new information is known.
The superintendent’s recommendation is not yet a formal budget proposal, and the board’s vote is not a preliminary or final budget.
The board will take budgetary action in June, however, they have decided on this collective preference on not including school closures as part of any final budget plan.
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Honestyandrealityguy
So many parents sending their children to private schools to avoid the racism, sexist, anti religion, etc. that the unions have our public schools teaching. Seems that some things should be left to mom and dad and what they believe. Instead, the teachers tend to tell the students that their parents are wrong about these political issues. Sad times.
Friday, April 26 Report this
jimlazar
This is a good outcome, and reflects a lot of hard work by members of our communities.
Olympia has one of the top-rated school systems in the state, and the support of our community is what makes this possible.
But the school population forecast is sharply down. It's not because parents are sending kids to private schools. It's because our birth rate is down very sharply, as it is in other advanced societies. My grandparents had four kids; my parents had three; the three of us all put together had two.
The official state population data shows that there are 1 million people in the state in the 45-54 age range, but only 860,000 in the 0 - 9 age range. There will be fewer students in the future than in the past statewide. Thurston County may be a little different from the state average, but we are likely to have extra room in our schools. Renting out space for pre-school and early learning is one way to put this space to productive use and keep more schools open.
But, when a school area cannot support a full class of students in each grade, it will become necessary to consolidate schools.
Oh: this same issue is why Social Security is at risk. Too many retirees, and not enough people of working age. When Social Security started, there were four workers for each retiree; now it's down to two. Since benefits to today's retirees are paid for out of taxes of today's workers, that ratio matters a lot.
We will need to cut benefits, raise taxes, or raise the retirement age. My preferred solution is to tax investment income (stock dividends, bond interest, capital gains) at the same rate as earned income (wages and self-employment). No change in the tax rate, but more paid by people who don't work and have plenty of money. There's no reason that Warren Buffet's hired help should be paying a higher tax rate than he is. What's your preferred solution?
https://ofm.wa.gov/washington-data-research/statewide-data/washington-trends/population-changes/distribution-washington-population-age-and-gender
Age Group Population
0-4 439,657
5-9 429,877
10-14 438,233
15-19 462,128
20-24 461,512
25-29 480,398
30-34 453,383
35-39 448,607
40-44 459,698
45-49 492,909
50-54 495,296
55-59 453,078
60-64 382,087
65-69 270,474
70-74 186,746
75-79 142,068
80-84 111,118
85+ 117,271
Friday, April 26 Report this
davidlee
Just dreaming here: Divide a school building in half, convert half to assisted living. Collect a little rent, provide some housing, and bring the generations together. There are plenty of reasons to say it wouldn't work, no doubt, but could we come up with reasons that it might work? As I said, just dreaming.
David, East Side
Saturday, April 27 Report this
MargaretDorothy
To address those who think the Olympia School District is only losing students due to birth rate decreases as well as high housing costs. But here are the facts DIRECTLY from OSPI: The Tumwater School District Declined 1% from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023, the North Thurston Public School District declined by 3.5% (the state average) from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023, and the Olympia School District declined from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023 over 7%.
Here is Director Scott Clifthorne's direct quote from 4-25-2024 during his comments at the end of the meeting:
"…And that's not a future I want to be a part of administering, right. None of us joined the School Board because we are hoping to supervise the decline of a once great school district. Right? We ran for these offices because we were interested in making sure that there were real advancements in equity and inclusion.
We ran for this board because we saw well, at least I'll speak to myself personally, a wave of Trumpism taking over decision making at school districts all over this country. And people like me were like you're gone. I'm gonna run, run for school board before something like that in my community happens. And I will take exception with one important talking point that has been reported a few times, and I think it's really problematic. And it's this idea that we as a board have driven students out of this school district with our woke politics.
Okay, no way alright.
This school board, this school district, as long as I'm in this community the pride proclamations are gonna keep happening. The Black Lives Matter proclamations are gonna keep happening. We will continue to invest in these schools until they're safe, and equitable places for all students, irrespective of their color, of their skin, their gender identity and gender expression. And if anyone has a problem with that cause you don’t want to be in a school district where those are the values, bye."
Saturday, April 27 Report this
BCBEAN
Quality of OSD eduction will further decline - all to accommodate a loud minority of parents. This is a kick the can down the road decision that will not avoid the inevitable need to close schools.
Sunday, April 28 Report this