Uh Oh, Bellevue

 I'll let the Times give you the news:

Money woes put Bellevue School District under state oversight

Bellevue joins eight other districts across Washington that are also under state oversight, and it’s possible more could come. The announcement was made at Thursday’s school board meeting.
The approximately 20,000-student district east of Lake Washington is home to some of the area’s wealthiest people. But in the last couple of years, the community has seen elementary schools close and more than a hundred teachers and staff let go to cut costs. 

 

The landmark ruling McCleary v. State of Washington, which capped how much money districts could collect from local levies, hurt Bellevue. It’s a property-rich district that relied on local levy funds to provide high-quality teaching. For Bellevue, the cap meant that starting in 2019, the district couldn’t collect as much as it used to from its residents, meaning a loss of $15 million each year.

  “There are so many things that made for a perfect storm for Bellevue, but it’s brewing out there for all of the districts around us,” Bellevue Superintendent Kelly Aramaki said Friday.

Seattle Schools has often complained about the levy cap.

So what happens next?

State law requires that a district request additional state oversight on its fiscal situation when it is unable to produce a balanced budget, including a negative general fund balance, for the current or coming school year.

A fund balance is sometimes thought of as a “rainy-day fund.” Because districts get paid by the state in chunks, a fund balance supplies a district with the “cash on hand” necessary to pay bills at any time during the year.

With Bellevue voluntarily entering binding conditions, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Puget Sound Educational Service District will meet regularly with the district to collaborate on high-level financial goals.

Additional budget tools will also be available to the district, including liquidating assets and depositing proceeds into the district’s general fund, OSPI spokesperson Katie Hannig said. 

Hannig said OSPI estimates that the current situation at Bellevue will take three school years to fully resolve.

Honestly, I have my suspicions about the state of the SPS rainy day fund.  

One bright spot:

In the most recent legislative session, state legislators passed House Bill 2049, which allows school districts to raise up to $500 more per student through locally funded levies. This will help Bellevue, but Aramaki pointed out that it doesn’t help districts that are property-poor.