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