Taxes in April Help Boost School District Revenue

While school districts around the state continue to keep a watchful eye on proceedings in Olympia as they pertain to the state budget, Enumclaw School District director of business and operations Tim Madden had some good news for the school board at its meeting Monday night: April's tax season helped give a substantial boost to the district's general fund and while that was expected, the unreserved ending fund balance at month end stood at $5,351,736.61, "which is really good," he said.

All things considered, both revenues and expenditures came close to what was forecasted, and district staff and administrators have been trimming spending where they could, he said. "We've made adjustments on our expenditures," Madden said.

As an example of this, board member Nancy Merrill pointed out that in contract negotiations for Superintendent Mike Nelson next year, there was virtually no change to his contract -- there would be no salary increases for Nelson.

Of note, from a cost-saving perspective, was that the Enumclaw School District this year scored a 100 percent on an assessment performed by the Washington Schools Risk Assessment Pool, which manages insurance for the district, Madden said. 

The assessment looked at policies and procedures that the district implemented in support of 'boundary invasion,' or relationships between students and staff, and the use of technology to promote that, he said. 

Practically this means that the school district can now benefit from a "savings in our premiums," he said.

Without a final state budget, it remains difficult for district administrators to proceed with drawing up a district budget for next year. The board questioned Madden on what news he's heard about budget proceedings in Olympia, and he responded that legislators seem to be leaning toward the House budget, preferred over the Senate budget as it pertains to education, but the hold-up isn't with education. Rather, lawmakers continue to wrangle over issues with Labor and Industries and insurance rates, he said.

Keep Eye on District Web site

With so many end-of-the-year events and announcements taking place leading up to summer break, the district is updating its web site daily to highlight the latest news going on in local schools, said Nelson.

Several Enumclaw High School teams are continuing competition into the post season and the school's production of The Tempest begins this Thursday, May 19 through Sunday, May 22.

"Our students are excelling in all these different facets," he said.

Running for School Board

Outside of school activities, the district web site is also the first stop for any community member looking to run for any of the four seats that are up for re-election this fall.

They are seats currently held by Merrill, Corey Cassell, Tim Nickson and Tamarah Hancock. All but Hancock's seat are on a four-year term cycle. Hancock was selected by the board earlier this year following the resignation of former board member Cathy Dahlquist, who resigned in 2010 when she was elected to the state Legislature. The election for this position will determine who will complete the final two years of the term.

Nickson indicated Monday night that he would not seek re-election due to changing work schedules. Merrill said she remains undecided.

"It's a much bigger job than it was when I first got on the board," she said.

But it's a rewarding experience, said Nickson. "It's a chance to be involved in so many opportunities to make a difference."

For more information about the current board members and maps indicating where candidates must reside, click here. 

According to the King County Elections office, filing by mail begins as early as this Friday, May 20 and in-person or online in June.

In Other News:

• The board recognized Enumclaw High School senior Will Holland for his service as a student representative this year -- the first along with junior Lauren Cary to service in this new position. Will is headed to the University of Washington next year. Nelson said that there are six applicants currently looking to fill his vacated position next year.
• District technology coordinator Chad Marlow updated the board that the process was ready to begin implementing some of the Intelligent Classroom priorities that were introduced earlier this year at Nelson's . At the start of the fall semester, nine model classrooms would be completed with the Intelligent Classroom equipment: one classroom in each elementary school; one in each middle schools; and two at the high school. The plan is that a year from that point, each classroom in the district would be set up with the new equipment. Marlow is also working to ensure teachers and staff are properly trained with the equipment and technology.
• A sale of district surplus property is set to take place at the end of June at the J.J. Smith building. More details about what the sale includes as well as specific dates should be forthcoming on the district web site.
• The board also accepted the following donations:
  1. $800.00 from the EMS Band Booster Club to the EMS Band program
  2. $1,200.00 from the Puyallup Tribe to Sunrise to be used for a 5th grade program called “Dancing Classrooms”
  3. $691.50 from Kibler PTA to Kibler to be used for books, a magazine subscription, and markers