Financial Analysis Core Team Met July 8

In July, the district’s Financial Analysis Core Team (FACT) met to review the draft Annual Budget Guide, ask questions and discuss district finances. The FACT group includes parents, community members, students and staff volunteers; this was the team’s fourth meeting for the 2025-26 school year. The group helps to enhance the district’s budget transparency and equity by engaging community representatives in meaningful budget analysis.

Each year, district Finance staff members create an Annual Budget Guide, which shares both high-level and detailed information about the district budget for the upcoming school year. The guide makes the district budget easier to understand, answers common questions and provides analysis to help community members, students, staff and taxpayers understand how the district receives funds and how it spends those funds.

Before and during the July 8 meeting, members of the FACT team reviewed the Annual Budget Guide for the district's 2026-27 budget, which has been in development for many months and will be considered by the School Board for approval in August. Every summer, the School Board hosts a public hearing about the budget to listen to public comment and feedback about the budget and district finances. The public hearing about the 2026-27 budget will be on August 13.

Members of the FACT team asked questions about insurance, the clean audit by the Washington State Auditor's Office, revenue, fund balance, the New High School, expenditures and more. Feedback from the FACT team is being used to further refine the draft Annual Budget Guide, which will be shared with the public in advance of the public hearing about the budget.