Tumwater School District closes 2025 with less money than previous year

The Tumwater School District had an ending total fund balance of $3,299,987.06 for fiscal year 2025. 

By comparison, the district had a $6,633,727 ending total fund balance for 2024 and $11,157,524 for 2023. 

Assistant Superintendent of Business & Operations Ben Rarick and Director of Finance & Operations Kira Acker presented the Year-End Finance Report to the school board at a meeting on Dec. 4.

Of the $3.3 million ending fund balance, only $603,087 is unassigned. 

“The district has carryover funds … it's discretionary funds we can't spend. It's money that we received from the state that we haven't actually spent in that category, so we carry that over,” said Acker. 

The largest chunk of the balance, $1,977,355, is reserved in full for the New Market Skills Center. The prior year’s unspent funds are restricted to the skills center by statute. 

“If you look at any OSPI (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) report, they just regard the skill center as a school in the Tumwater School District,” Rarick said.

“They're separate in the sense that they have a dedicated fund balance, but ... they're legally part of our school district, so, therefore, we're obligated to include them in all of our financial statements,” Rarick added. 

A total of $386,985 is categorized as a non-spendable fund balance, which is composed of assets that count as fund balance but are not spendable cash.  

Non-spendable fund balance assets include inventory, bus fuel on hand, food in storage and other items. 

Expenditures and revenue 

The district's largest expense is salaries for certified staff, which account for 43% of total expenditures. Employee benefits follow at 21%. 

Salaries for classified staff account for 19% of total expenses, while purchased services account for 13%. 

“(A total of) 82% of our expense is compensation-related. So, our largest expense is people,” Davis said.

Supplies and materials account for 4%, with travel and capital outlay having the lowest expenditures. 

The district received funds from three sources in the 2024-25 school year: state, local and federal.  

“Federal funding (is) now at its lowest (level) in decades. State (77%) remains by far our largest revenue source,” the report stated. 

According to the report, the biggest risk factors for fiscal year 2026 are declining enrollment in neighborhood schools, the state budget outlook and passing levies.