Fiscal Advisory Committee

Background

In the summer of 2002, it became clear that the financial stability of the Port Angeles School District would continue to be significantly affected by a number of issues. Foremost among these issues were a continuing decline in student enrollment since the 1997-98 school year, and reductions in state funding made by the legislature responding to a declining state economy.

The Port Angeles School Board recognized that difficult decisions would need to be made to ensure that the district would maintain an appropriate fiscal balance for the 2003-04 school year and beyond. Community input was considered essential by the board before arriving at decisions to cut highly desirable programs, student services, and support operations.

To facilitate difficult decision-making, the board established a Fiscal Advisory Committee. Its membership includes a wide array of staff and community representation. During the board meeting on September 23, 2002, a permanent Fiscal Advisory Committee was established to advise the board of directors. The purposes of the committee are (a) to provide an on-going review of current budget operations, and (b) to offer recommendations to the board regarding future budget considerations. View current Fiscal Advisory Committee Membership.

The Fiscal Advisory Committee produced two major expense reduction recommendations for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years, and two substantial reports during 2004-05; one prior to (Fiscal Advisory Committee 2004-05 Report 1, March 14, 2005) and one following the May 2005 levy election (Fiscal Advisory Committee 2004-05 Report 2: 2005-06 Budget Recommendations, June 20, 2005).

The Port Angeles School Board recognized that difficult decisions would need to be made to assure that the district would maintain an appropriate fiscal balance for the 2008-09 school year and beyond. Community input is considered essential by the board before arriving at decisions to cut highly desirable programs, student services, and support operations.

As a result, the superintendent reconvened the Fiscal Advisory Committee, and renewed the committee’s charge to analyze the district’s financial position, the likelihood of continued enrollment declines, assess the additional uncertainty of state funding, and make educational program reduction recommendations to the school board for the 2008-09 school year.

The Fiscal Advisory Committee has already begun its review of how new state projections for cuts in 2009-11 might affect Port Angeles schools. Budget recommendations will be presented to the board of directors at their April 13, 2009 meeting.

The Fiscal Advisory Committee recommendations are advisory in nature, and should be presented as a priority set of potential actions that could be considered by district leadership and the board of directors for possible implementation. The board is not obligated to accept in whole or in part the committee recommendations, although the history has been that the board has accepted the vast majority of committee recommendations.

PARAMETERS

There are forces beyond the control of the committee which must be taken into consideration in making recommendations for balancing budgets. To provide context for these recommendations, the committee should review and recommit to the set of parameters adopted by the prior committees to shape recommendations:

The processes used to balance the budget will involve community and staff representation and encourage open thinking.
The General Fund budget for 2008-09 and beyond will be balanced. An adequate ending fund balance, in line with Board Policy 6020, will be maintained.
The budget will provide for compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
The budget will meet state and federal audit requirements.
The budget will be responsive to Port Angeles School District policy and procedures, together with the Strategic Plan and Board Value and Belief statements.
The budget will respect current collective bargaining agreements.

Committee Charge

The committee was charged with developing recommendations for the 2008-09 budget. The committee acknowledged the fact that enrollment projections indicate that further reductions will be necessary to balance the 2009-10 budget. Judgments were made within the frameworks of several financial parameters. Expense cuts anticipated for the 2008-09 budget estimated an increase in levy, changes in the way I-728 revenues are allocated (funds generated by Skills Center enrollment are allocated to the Skills Center), the formula-driven reductions in certificated staff resulting from a 15-year trend of enrollment decline, the reduction in levy equalization funding, escalating fuel costs, expected state and federal funding reductions, and unfunded cost increases coupled with collective bargaining anticipated in spring and summer that could increase district-wide employee-related expenses. These parameters will help to place all of the work into a context that acknowledged there were long-term considerations, study, and actions which would have to be taken in order to accomplish some of the proposed recommendations.

Questions about the school district budget may be sent to budget@portangelesschools.org.

February 4, 2009.

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Fiscal Advisory Committee