Input can be shared in person or via an online survey

Washougal School District leaders and school board members are inviting community members to share ideas about budget reductions needed to address a $3 million shortfall in the 2024-2025 school district budget. Input can be shared in person or via an online survey. 

Community members can find a link to the online survey on the district website or directly by visiting https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WSD-2024. 

School board members are hosting two Board Listening Tours where community members can share ideas and ask questions about the budget.  These events will be on Feb. 13 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Excelsior building, 1401 39th Street, and April 9 from 4:30 to 6 p.m..  A location for the April 9 meeting will be posted on the district website. 

Superintendent Dr. Mary Templeton is hosting a Superintendent’s Roundtable event on March 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Washougal School District Office, 4855 Evergreen Way, Washougal, sharing information about the budget shortfall and gathering feedback from participants. 

Templeton noted that, “we are leading with reductions in district office staff first.  We will not be filling Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources & Student Services Aaron Hansen’s position when he leaves at the end of this school year. This will require everyone in our executive team, including myself, to take on more responsibilities.” She added, “We are committed to making reductions in a way that minimizes the impact on students as much as possible, and to communicate information broadly so families, students, staff, and community members are not surprised.”

Feedback from the Listening Tour and Roundtable events and the survey will guide the first round of budget reductions.  A second round of budget adjustments will be made based on the legislative session outcomes, inflation pressure on our current spending, collective bargaining, and updates to the enrollment forecast.

Director of Business and Operations Kris Grindy said, “The state does not adequately fund basic education. The gap between what it costs to offer the high-quality schools our community expects for students and what we get from the state is increasing.” Grindy noted that, “We are underfunded for Special Education, substitutes, utility costs, insurance costs, and personnel costs. The ending fund balance is below the school board’s minimum of 6%, so reductions in spending will be required to both meet the minimum policy and to keep the district from moving into binding conditions.  Binding conditions occur when the school district is unable to provide a balanced budget and can no longer pay their bills.” Grindy added that, “our current budget situation means we may need to borrow from our Capital fund to pay our monthly payroll this spring.” 

Hansen stated, “These will not be easy reductions, and we are working to identify ways to balance the budget early in the process so we can notify impacted staff as soon as possible.” He added, “We are committed to working closely with our labor partners and providing support to anyone who is impacted by these changes.” He continued, “As we move through the challenging process together, we will continue to raise our voices to our legislature in Olympia that the school funding model is broken.”

Templeton finished with “Our responsibility to our students, staff, families and community is to create a sustainable budget plan for the future of the Washougal School District. The painful reductions, which will be shared across the organization, will allow us to fulfill this responsibility and ensure the future stability needed to support, serve, and celebrate each of our students.”

The feedback shared via the survey will be provided to the school board and posted to the district website. 

Information provided by Washougal School District.