Opening Up The Operating Budget

2015–17 Operating Budget: ESSB 6052

The operating budget refers specifically to principals five times in the 538 page document. Some of the topics addressed are:

• Including principals as part of an advisory committee to develop a model policy and procedures for language access by limited-English proficient parents.
• Rolling back administrative staff allocations to the same funding level prior to the passage of I–1351.
• Requiring school principals to participate in annual professional development on the best practices for special education instruction and strategies for implementation.
• Maintaining $477,000 for leadership internship programs for principal candidates.
• Maintaining $810,000 for the development of the Washington State Leadership Academy (WSLA).

Other changes that are of interest to most principals include:

BUDGET DETAILS: K–12 ENHANCEMENTS

Maintenance, Supplies & Operating Costs — $741.5M
SHB 2776 (2010) and the McCleary decision require full funding of an enhanced formula for Maintenance, Supplies & Operating Costs (MSOC) by the 2015–16 school year. Allocations for MSOC are increased for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 school years by $741.5 million, fully funding this obligation. MSOC will continue to be adjusted annually for inflation in the future.

MSOC, as adopted in SHB 2776, encompasses seven components representing the non-staff costs of operating a school district. Per full-time equivalent student allocations for each of those individual components are enhanced in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 school years, as follows:

• Technology, from the current $89.13 to $127.17 in 2015–16 and $129.33 in 2016–17
• Utilities & Insurance, from $242.17 to $345.55 and $351.43
• Curriculum & Textbooks, from $95.69 to $136.54 and $138.86
• Other Supplies & Library Materials, from $203.16 to $289.88 and $294.81
• Instructional Professional Development for Certificated and Classified Staff, from $14.80 to $21.12 and $21.47
• Facilities Maintenance, from $119.97 to $171.19 and $174.10
• Security & Central Office, from $83.12 to $118.60 and $120.61

The Operating Budget provides enhancements for each individual MSOC component; however, the funding continues to be for “allocation purposes only,” so the enhancements continue to provide districts flexibility in using the funds. The total funding increases from $848.04 per full-time equivalent student provided in the current school year to $1,210.05 per FTE student in the 2015–16 school year and $1,230.62 in the 2016–17 school year.

Class Size Reduction — $350.2M
SHB 2776 (2010) and the McCleary decision require average class sizes for grades K–3 to be reduced, beginning with schools with the highest percent of low-income students, until the class size for those grades is 17 students per classroom teacher in the 2017–18 school year.

The budget provides $350.2 million to continue to phase in reduced class sizes in grades K–3, with the largest class size reductions occurring in early grades in the first year and then following the cohort of students who have already received the benefit of state-funded class size reduction in the second year. Priority is given to high-poverty elementary schools, as measured by those with the highest percentage of students eligible for the federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRPL) program.

Funded allocations for general education class sizes are targeted, as follows:

Kindergarten class sizes are reduced to 22 students-per-teacher in school year 2015–16 and to 19 students-per-teacher in the 2016–17 school year:

• Grade 1 – 23 and 21
• Grade 2 – 24 and 22
• Grade 3 – 25 and 22 in Grade 3

Funded allocations for class sizes in high poverty schools (at which more than fifty percent of students are eligible for FRPL) are targeted, as follows:

Kindergarten class sizes are reduced to 18 students-per-teacher in school year 2015–16 and to 17 students-per-teacher in the 2016–17 school year:

• Grade 1 – 19 and 17
• Grade 2 – 22 and 18
• Grade 3 – 24 and 21

Although SHB 2776 specifies that enhanced funding for class size reduction is for “allocation purposes only,” the Operating Budget requires allocations for class sizes to be provided in proportion to each school district’s “demonstrated actual weighted average class size for grades kindergarten through three.” Class size compliance will be calculated at a district-wide level separately for high poverty schools and non-high poverty schools. The results of the compliance calculation will be two unique by district weighted average class sizes (high poverty and regular) to be used in the apportionment system. At a minimum, OSPI must provide allocations sufficient to fund a weighted average class size not to exceed 25.23 full-time equivalent students per teacher in grades K–3.

Funding is provided to fully implement a class size of 17 for K–1 students in high poverty schools in the 2016–17 school year. It is anticipated that sufficient additional funding will be provided in the next biennial budget to fully implement a class size of 17 for grades K–3 in all schools by the 2017–18 school year, as required by current law.

All-day Kindergarten — $179.8M
SHB 2776 (2010) and the McCleary decision require statewide basic education funding of all-day kindergarten by the 2017–18 school year. The budget provides allocations sufficient to expand statewide voluntary all-day kindergarten programs, increasing from 43.75 percent of kindergarten enrollment in the 2014–15 school year to 71.88 percent in the 2015–16 school year. All-day kindergarten is fully implemented at 100 percent of kindergarten enrollment in the 2016–17 school year, one year ahead of the required deadline.

Until statewide all-day kindergarten is fully implemented, funding is provided first to those schools with the highest percentage of students eligible for the federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch program. OSPI maintains a rank-order list of eligible schools, available on the School Apportionment & Financial Services webpage.

Dual Credit — $6.6M
Funding is provided to partially implement E2SHB 1546, eliminating the use of Running Start for courses offered in the high school, and creating subsidies and per credit fee limits for College in the High School classes for eligible 11th and 12th grade students. The bill established a prioritization of funding, as follows:

• Current Running Start in the High School students for 2015–16 only;
• Students whose high school or residence is more than 20 driving miles from a college offering a Running Start program;
• Students attending schools receiving small high funding; and
• Students eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch.

Unfortunately to implement the bill, the funding is only sufficient to assist students in the first priority in 2015–16 and students in the second priority in 2016–17. It is also likely that not all students in those two tiers will receive assistance.

Teacher Mentoring — $5.0M
Funding is provided to expand the number of teachers that may participate in the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) program. BEST provides grants to school districts and/or regional consortia to provide an enhanced level of support and professional development for new teachers. Funding for principal mentoring was in the governor’s budget but was not included in the final budget.

CTE Guidance Counselors — $3.5M
Funding is provided to adjust the prototypical school funding formula staffing allocations in Career & Technical Education and Skills Centers programs for state-funded Education Staff Associates, correcting a formula error.

School Turnaround Programs — $3.2M
Sufficient funding is provided for grants to school districts identified as persistently lowest achieving and having been listed by OSPI as a Required Action District. Funds are also provided for staffing at OSPI for the implementation and continued administration of the program.

College Success — $2.9M
Washington Achievers Scholars supports community involvement officers in the recruitment, training, and matching of community volunteer mentors with students selected as Achievers Scholars, providing mentorship to low-income high school juniors and seniors through their freshman year of college. The College Bound Scholarship program provides annual college tuition and a book allowance for low-income Washington students. This budget provides funding to expand the Washington Achievers Scholars program within King and Pierce counties. Additionally, funding is provided to replace federal and private dollars that are no longer available to the College Bound Scholarship program.

Kindergarten Readiness — $2.8M
Funding is provided to continue the statewide administration of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory and Developing Skills (WaKIDS) and for one-time implementation and training grants for schools implementing the inventory for the first time in the 2015–17 biennium.

Computer Science Grants — $2.0M<