The state’s funding model falls short in meeting the current needs of our students, which makes our schools more reliant on local levies and impact aid dollars to cover the basic needs and services for students in Oak Harbor Public Schools. The following factors also contributed to the need to reduce budget expenditures to balance the 2024-2025 budget:
Increasing Student Needs
Federal and state special education allocation funding is not keeping pace with the needs of students. Special education students make up approximately 20 percent (1,200 students) of Oak Harbor public schools, which is above the 15 percent cap in state funding. Approximately 36 percent of our students with special needs have severe disabilities requiring specialized care and instruction to support their learning. Additionally, NAS Whidbey Island is an Exceptional Family Member Program Base (levels 1-6), which means more families with special needs attend Oak Harbor Public Schools.
Increasing Costs for Goods and Services
Schools are feeling the impacts of inflation, too. Inflation has impacted the cost of both staffing and goods. Everything costs more now such as professional services, benefits, food, gasoline, utilities, etc. are all significantly more expensive and all things schools rely on to operate. These expenses are considering MSOCs or Materials, Supplies and Operating Costs.
Although inflationary factors have been reflected in state funding formulas, it has not kept up with actual costs and falls short of the true expenses associated with operating a school district. Local funding support is also impacted by inflation. Levy collection amounts are voted on and set for multiple years at a time and as a result, do not keep up with inflationary factors. Oak Harbor Public Schools levy is currently not at the funding cap level, which means we are not maximizing the amount of revenue we could through local tax initiatives.
Sunset of COVID-19 Relief Funding
The expiration of one-time COVID relief funding (ESSER and state stabilization funds) that helped schools to weather the pandemic expense storm is no longer available for support, which equaled to approximately $5 million for Oak Harbor Public Schools. These state and federal dollars disguised funding challenges within K-12 schools, including insufficient funding provided via the state’s prototypical funding formula, for the past several years. With the expiration of these funding sources, districts must make difficult decisions required to balance their budgets while meeting the existing needs of students post-pandemic.
Increase in Staffing Costs
With the increase in staffing costs over time and the sunsetting of the COVID-19 relief dollars, Oak Harbor Public School’s budget is predominately made up of salaries and benefits. Approximately 88 percent of the general fund is spent on staffing costs, which is not sustainable long-term, especially if we are trying to meet the priorities of our community such as safety enhancements and professional development.
Additional Considerations
Oak Harbor Public Schools is anticipating decreasing enrollment projections over the next few years due to there being a smaller kindergarten class in the 2023-2024 school year. Birth rates across the nations are contributing to decreasing enrollment and school district funding.
Oak Harbor Public Schools is reliant on Impact Aid and Loca Levy funding funding. These dollars are not guaranteed and are based on what is approved by congress or local taxpayers, which is why it is important to be fiscally conservative with budget forecasting and reporting.
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