Tumwater School District posts $4.52M operating deficit for 2024 budget 

The Tumwater School District (TSD) spent more money than it took and ended the 2024 budget cycle with a $4.52 million operating deficit

TSD Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations Ben Rarick met with the Board of Directors to discuss the Fiscal Year 2024 Year-End Finance Report. 

“The (minus) $4.5 million — that is the final reported annual operating deficit of the Tumwater School District for Fiscal Year 2024. Meaning that we spent $114.5 million … and we took in revenue (that is) $4.5 million less than that $109.9 million (Total revenues and other financing sources),” Rarick said.

Rarick reported the district recorded $134.3 million in total expenditures, $114 million of which was in the General Fund, and the remaining $20.3 million was in other funds.  

Expenses and revenue sources 

The largest amount of spending was on salaries for certified staff at $48,711,623.71 in the 2024 budget cycle. Classified staff salary expenses weighed in at $20,138,654.39 while employee benefits totaled $23,339,363.66.

Supplies and materials came in at $ 5,413,135.65, purchased services at $16,322,972.92, travel expenses at $ 296,443.86 and capital outlay at $278,462.69. 

The General Fund has a variety revenue sources. A sum of $82,732,926.71 (75.2%) came from State Apportionment & Categorical Funds. 

Another $21,947,219.80 (20%) of the funding came from school Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levies and other school fees. 

A total of $5,188,531.35 (4.7%) of the funding came from federal sources, such as Title 1 support, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) fund and other programs. Other fund sources are attributed for the other $108,182.52 (0.1%) source.   

When the district reports to the state, it closes out the whole fiscal year, which, aside from the General Fund, also includes the Associated Student Body (ASB), Debt Services, Capital Projects and Transportation Vehicle funds.  

“The year closes at the end of August. We report by October 25th, and then it goes through a certification process with OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) that typically culminates in the month of November,” Rarick said. 

Enrollment and staffing count 

The district recorded a 6,518.4 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment count this year. If excluding Running Start, New Market Skills Center (NMSC) and Open Doors programs, the figure was 5,892.6 FTE. 

“When you start to break that down, you realize that when you're looking at the number of students on an FTE basis that are served in our elementary and secondary schools, that number — excluding New Market Skills Center (NMSC), excluding the kids that maybe go get post-secondary credit Community College through Running Start — that number is considerably smaller and that's a unique feature of Tumwater,” Rarick said. 

Rarick said that 2024 staffing was reported to be 738.24 FTE with 447.5 FTE certificated staff and 290.74 FTE classified staff. This year’s staffing represented an increase of 57.38 FTE from last year.  

The “unique feature” Rarick mentioned shows the trend wherein staffing and spending have increased, while enrollment has declined overall. Separating NMSC and Running Start enrollment is critical to this analysis.  

Takeaways 

The amount of other funds — capital, debt service, ASB, and transportation vehicle funds — were at acceptable levels, according to the report.  

“The balances of the other funds are not troubling to me. There was a brief moment where for the first time in the history of the Tumwater School District, the ASB fund had more cash than the General Fund, which was a first but not a place we want to be,” said Rarick.  

Rarick said the General Fund, however, is in a heightened state of risk, which “needs to be addressed with haste.”  

“Some combination of cost reduction and/or revenue enhancements are going to be necessary and we find ourselves on the precipice or on the cusp of the legislative session in which there are a number of things that the Legislature could do to help districts like Tumwater,” Rarick said.  

Rarick emphasized that the operating deficit is an important measurement of fiscal state. 

“You can have money in your savings account, but if you are spending a lot more than you're bringing (in on) an annual basis, you are gonna burn through it very quickly,” Rarick said.

“The operating deficit is the most important metric, and districts with large fund balances … make commitments that are structurally outpaced by their revenue, and it's just a matter of time at that point.”