COUPEVILLE: More budget cuts ahead for Coupeville schools (WNT)

Luisa Loi reports from the Coupeville School District board meeting of Thu. Feb. 29, 2024 for the Whidbey News-Times.

More financial struggles are ahead for the Coupeville School District, which was recently placed on a financial watch list and faces $1.66 million in budget cuts next school year, Financial Director Brian Gianello told the school board last week.

In August, the board authorized Superintendent Steve King to make about $1.45 million in cuts for the current budget that resulted in fierce opposition from members of the community and concerns about the district’s ability to resolve its financial crisis.

…In order to cover January accounts payable and payroll, the board approved an interfund loan transfer of $400,000 from the capital projects fund into the general fund, expecting to repay the loan by April 2024.

In his latest financial report, Gianello announced that the district needs another interfund loan transfer of $800,000 in May to make it through the school year.

They Said It

Currently, according to Gianello’s report, there are four schools under “binding conditions,” which is what happens when a district ends the financial year with a negative fund balance or needs to budget receivables collected in the future to balance its budget, according to a presentation by the Washington Association of School Business Officials.

A district that agrees to the binding conditions may return to a healthy financial place by allowing OSPI and ESD 189 to review and recommend financial decisions, according to the presentation.

King believes the school is not going to end in binding conditions.

“Districts go into binding conditions when they have to borrow money from OSPI in order to cover district expenses,” King wrote in his email. “ We have been able to avoid that due to being able to borrow from capital projects.”

Now, King wrote, the district estimates it will need up to $800,000 from capital projects in May, “but it may not end up being that much.”

…Repayment of the loan must happen within one calendar year and will be included in next year’s budget, King wrote. However, it’s unknown when the district will repay the loan.