Camas was one of the few districts in the greater Clark County region to avoid a teacher strike this past summer; the union and school district came to an agreement on a new salary schedule that saw an average 12.5 percent increase in teachers’ total compensation.
Snell said the budget committee has spent most of its meeting time so far learning the background on the schools’ finances. At their meeting Tuesday night, they started looking at potential reductions and how those could impact the district financially.
Part of the tricky part when looking at potential cuts, Snell said, is needing to balance the budget while also trying not to cut entire programs. The hope is the Legislature will come up with some help for schools so the shortfall won’t be as much, but the district has to start working on its budget soon, so it can’t assume more help is coming. Snell said the goal is to make decisions that are flexible, since this is the first year of a new funding system.
“The approach hasn’t been, ‘How do we fix one year?'” said Mike True, co-chair of the budget committee. “The approach has been, ‘How do we use the funding model going forward?’ It’s not about, ‘How do we fix $8.2 million?’ We know there’s an $8.2 shortfall. It’s got to be addressed all in one or going forward.”
Possible cuts
Snell said the district could look at making cuts across the board, meaning potential reductions in central office staff, classified staff and certified staff.
“Obviously, this issue has many of our members feeling anxious while waiting for final decisions,” said Shelley Houle, president of the Camas Education Association and member of the budget committee. “That anxiety is felt across the whole membership and not just those with lesser seniority. Our union strength comes from the support we give each other on a daily basis in providing a top-quality education to Camas students.”
That could impact things like class size, Snell said. There will also most likely be some tightening of spending around the district.
“Reductions are a necessary component of the new funding model for us in Camas,” Snell said. “Reductions are particularly difficult because they impact the level of service we can provide. They also affect our staff members and their families directly. Each staff member is an important part of our community.”
The district has about $8.8 million in its fund balance, but it doesn’t want to nearly empty that out to fill the gap. Snell said the board could use a combination of some fund balance money and some reductions to make up the $8.2 million shortfall. Still, the district doesn’t want to make a habit out of using reserve money for issues that might not be a one-time problem in the new funding model, because over time, it would wipe out the fund balance.
“We’re getting into this concept of what is an appropriate fund balance for a district the size of Camas,” True said. “You can utilize some of your savings, but where is there a point where you need to build that back? We need something that is going to be a sustainable model for the district in the future.”
Levy cap
Another issue for the district from McCleary is the capping of local levy dollars, which can’t exceed $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value in the new funding model. That should bring in about $9.1 million to Camas this year. Before the levy was capped, voters in the district approved a levy rate of $2.74 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which was supposed to bring in an estimated $16.6 million for that period. With the current levy cap, Camas expects to lose $7.8 million from what voters approved for 2020, and $7.9 million for the following year.
Part of the difficulty for the district is also making sure the public understands not only the changes on school funding, but how it works. Snell said he’s heard from people upset the district is facing a shortfall within a year of opening the new Lacamas Lake Elementary School and Discovery High School. Those schools were opened using money from the district’s $120 million bond voters approved in 2016. Bond money can only be used to build new schools or other capital projects.
The budget committee is expected to meet twice in April. In the meantime, Snell said he and the committee will have to look at all options for working through the shortfall, while also communicating with the public about what’s going on and why it’s happening.
“The old model worked really well for us,” Snell said. “The new model has been challenging, but we’re going to work through it. It affects the experiences we create for our students. That’s hard. Everybody who’s in education is doing it because they like to help.”
