Sequim School Board approves $32.6 million budget that includes full-day kindergarten

SEQUIM — The Sequim School Board has adopted a $32.6 million budget for the 2015-16 school year, an increase over last year largely because of the inclusion of full-day kindergarten.

The board voted unanimously to approve the budget Monday night.

Brian Lewis, Sequim School District business manager, presented a draft version of the budget during the Aug. 3 regular meeting.

The affirmative vote came after a public hearing on the matter, during which no members of the audience came forward to speak.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

There were about a dozen people in attendance, the majority of which were school staffers.

The budget includes $29,775,869 for the general fund; $1,124,121 for the transportation vehicle fund; $521,412 for the capital projects fund; $153,968 for the debt service fund; $813,500 for the Associated Student Body fund; a transfer of $120,000 from the general fund to the capital projects funds; a transfer of $123,089 from the general fund to the debt service fund; and a transfer of $20,879 from the transportation vehicle fund to the debt service fund.

Full-day kindergarten

The new budget includes a marked increase over the $27,531,539 2014-15 school year budget, with the switch to full-day kindergarten beginning this fall accounting for a large portion of the increase.

The district is ready for up to 180 kindergartners this school year, up from 84 last year.

“The start of full-day kindergarten is the biggest change” to the budget, Lewis said Tuesday.

“Last year, our budget was about $27.5 million in the general fund, so the inclusion of full-day kindergarten is going to add close to $600,000.”

A majority of the funding for all-day kindergarten at both Helen Haller and Greywolf elementary schools is being provided through the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The district has increased the number of kindergarten classrooms from five to 10 — five at Helen Haller and five at Greywolf Elementary — and hired five new kindergarten teachers.

The process of increasing classrooms included moving the fourth-grade students at Helen Haller out of the main building into two new portable units on the campus to make room for the kindergarten classes, Lewis noted.

The cost of purchasing and installing the two portable units was $400,000, with an additional $120,000 spent to purchase furnishings, classroom supplies and technological components, Lewis said.

Another increase to the budget, Lewis said, is the result of the McCleary decision — which carries the name of Sequim native Stephanie McCleary, a Chimacum school human resources director and parent.

As part of the decision, Supreme Court justices ruled that lawmakers were not meeting their constitutional responsibility to fully pay for basic K-12 education and relying too much on local tax-levy dollars to balance the education budget.

In response, $1.3 billion was earmarked for K-12 education as part of this year’s state budgeting process.

3 percent increase

As a result of the decision, Sequim School District employees will see a 3 percent cost-of-living allowance in their paychecks this year.

Based on 2014-15 wages paid to district employees — the salaries fluctuate annually because teachers are paid based on their experience — there will be an increase of about $480,000 for salaries districtwide over last year.

Additionally, substitute teachers will now be paid $120 daily. They had been paid $100 daily since at least 2007, Lewis said.

It is hoped the increase in pay will attract more qualified substitute teachers, he added.

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his 1968 Cessna Aerobat, named Scarlett, at the Jefferson County International Airport in Port Townsend. Lundahl was picking up his plane Wednesday from Tailspin Tommy’s Aircraft Repair facility located at the airport. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Fueling up

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his… Continue reading

After hours pet clinic set for Peninsula

Opening June 6 at Sequim location

Five to be honored with community service awards

Ceremony set Thursday at Port Angeles Senior Community Center

PASD planning for expanding needs

Special education, homelessness, new facilities under discussion

Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Deputy Ed Bauck
Clallam Sheriff appoints animal control deputy

Position was vacant since end of 2024

Highway 104 road work to start week

Maintenance crews will repair road surfaces on state Highway… Continue reading

Supreme Court says no to recall reconsider

Sequim man found liable for legal fees

Chimacum Ridge seeks board members

Members to write policy, balance values, chair says

Fire destroys shop east of Port Angeles

A fire on Hickory Street east of Port Angeles… Continue reading

Jefferson Transit Authority to expand Kingston Express route

Jefferson Transit Authority has announced expanded service on its… Continue reading

From left to right, Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding students Krystol Pasecznyk and Scott McNair sand a Prothero Sloop with Sean Koomen, the school’s boat building program director. Koomen said the sanding would take one person a few days. He said the plan is to have 12 people sand it together, which will take a few hours. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Wooden boatbuilding school building ‘Twin Boats’

Students using traditional and cold-moulding construction techniques