This February, the Seattle School Board’s budget committee met to continue developing the budget, attempting to solve the 104-million-dollar deficit created by past years’ budgets. The deficit has many contributing factors: construction costs, other spending habits, and a lack of government funding that can’t combat keeping up with our districts’ growing needs.
One notable source of stress is repaying the construction of the district headquarters in SODO. This ‘Glass Palace’, as some like to call it, cost over 50 million to build and has accumulated more than another 50 million in interest. When it was built – over a decade ago – district financial analysts persisted that the project would pay for itself, but the district is yet to see any of those payoffs.
However, the deficit is not only from the district’s spending habits; it comes from a combination of rising costs alongside cuts in state level funding. The state only covers 63% of the district’s budget, while the federal government covers around 6%. This creates gaps in what the district needs and what they are given.
According to SPS, “the state provides zero funding for middle and high school athletics,” leaving the district to cover “coaches, field rentals, equipment, and transportation” all on their own.
To help cover the gap in funding, the district enables a local Seattle-funded levy. The levy is maxed out, with Washington state legislation allotting 63 cents per $1000 of assessed property value.
This levy not only covers the missing funds for athletics and special education, but also security. The state only outlines the district’s budget for 9.3 security specialists’ salaries for all 103 Seattle schools. With the levy, the district is able to add an additional 63.7 specialists.
The many voter-funded levies reaching their max could cause further delays on the Lincoln Field Project. The new track and field at Lower Woodland will be funded by the BTA V Capital levy. This levy, which was approved by voters in 2022, will raise 783 million dollars for Seattle Public Schools by 2028.
However, this funding was also allocated for other projects at 31 elementary schools, 7 K-8s, 4 middle schools, 7 other high schools and 11 facilities or programs (including the $150 million Memorial Stadium remodel). This means that if a final option isn’t voted on soon, the roughly $10 million needed may no longer be available for the fields.
Seattle voters are tapped out at this point, and state funding is forcing SPS into a corner, battling between spending that meets the needs of their students and keeping their budget in the positive. This is leading the district to cut corners where they can, and students are going to feel the effects.
State funding comes from enrollment, and even though Lincoln’s enrollment is at an all-time high, district enrollment has been declining since Covid. The lower enrollment is due to a number of things, most notably the rising housing costs and price of living in Seattle.
This low enrollment means the state gives the district less funding, as each student gets a specific amount of money spent on them. This amount is not cut and dry; it changes from student to student. Students with disabilities and students living in low-income areas are allotted more money than students not in those categories.
Ever-changing funding means that every year, the district is trying to fund the same activities and specialists from different sources, creating uncertainty from year to year for students, teachers, and other district staff.
This year, uncertainty arises for Lincoln, and not just from the delay of the Lincoln Field Project. The activity coordinator and athletic director position are next on the budget chopping block. In previous years, the district has let the two positions split a salary and teach a few classes to be full-time. At Lincoln, Ms. Ware is the gym teacher and athletic director, while Ms. Goehring teaches 9th grade English, runs leadership, and serves as the activities coordinator.
As seen at Lincoln, the athletic director and activities coordinator do so much. Ms. Ware is in charge of things Lincoln athletics and Ms. Goehring covers a lot of the many other aspects of student life including being in charge of our ASB. These positions are already a massive undertaking at any school, especially when it’s not full time.
The district has a solution to save money and make these positions full time: combine the two roles. Next year, schools will no longer have the option to split the position between two people as part-time roles, forcing the two vastly different positions to be put on one person.
This change will have a drastic impact on Lincoln; as Ms. Goehring says, “Lincoln is a particularly hideous beast.”
Since Lincoln is the largest school in the district and has a unique schedule, this change could be detrimental to Lincoln’s day-to-day.
However, the budget is never set in stone. Things change, people shift, and who knows what the budget will truly look like next year.