La Center School District Superintendent Mark Mansell pictures himself locked in a game of chess with the state Legislature. His goal is to be several moves ahead.
In his nearly two decades as a superintendent, he’s gotten pretty good at the game.
With a court order looming over the state Legislature to adequately fund education, he anticipated more money for lower grades, and his district started offering all-day kindergarten early. His district also wagered the state would eventually fund lower class sizes, and took steps to decrease the student-to-teacher ratio.
“We’re playing ahead of the game,” Mansell said.
But there comes a time when it becomes difficult for the superintendent to move any of his players.
On Thursday, lawmakers announced they could not strike a budget deal before the scheduled end today of their 105-day legislative session. Instead, the governor called a special session to start Wednesday. Key budget leaders will head back to Olympia in the hopes of hammering out a two-year operating budget.
Until then, La Center and other school districts will wait.
“We’re sitting here treading water for the funding for the next two years,” Mansell said.
“I’ve seen this many times’ it’s part of the process. … But the past few years have been challenging. They have waited until the last minute, they keep kicking the can down the road until the end of June, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that this year.”
MaryBeth Lynn, assistant superintendent of finance with Battle Ground Public Schools, said she’s taken each of the different budget proposals being floated and cobbled together a rough budget using the most conservative elements. It’s a frustrating process, she said.
“This is when we’re … trying to figure out how many people we need to hire and not knowing what the Legislature is going to decide kind of puts us in a tail spin,” she said.
If lawmakers mandate smaller class sizes, district officials will likely have to shuffle.
“That will impact us on a facilities level and a staff level,” said Sean Chavez, spokesman with the Battle Ground school district.
The governor has called a 30-day special session. Mansell has to have his budget for the La Center district done by the end of July.
“We have to hire staff based on imaginary numbers,” Mansell said. “We don’t know how the dust is going to settle.”
