Staff Provides Budget Update to School Board

Chief of Finance and Operations Martin Turney and Executive Director of Finance and Budget Moriah Banasick shared an update about the district’s work to create a budget for the next school year. Superintendent Tow-Yick introduced the agenda item, noting that the district is in a different financial position than in prior decades when the ISD was experiencing rapid growth. Declining elementary enrollment, rising costs and other factors that have led to an imbalance between revenue and expenditures. District leaders are proposing actions to better align resources with student needs.

“You’ll hear us emphasize a more conservative approach,” Turney said. “This is not about stepping back from our commitments. It’s about making sure we are making sustainable decisions that allow us to deliver on those commitments both now and into the future. Throughout this process, our focus remains on responsible stewardship, protecting the instructional core and being transparent with our community about both the challenges and the path forward.”

Banasick shared that the district’s Financial Analysis Core Team (FACT) met in March to hear a similar update about the budget process. The team includes parents, community members, students, and staff, who help provide transparency and equity by engaging in meaningful budget analysis. The FACT group will meet again this month.

Staff are proposing just under $16 million in cost saving measures. Of that total, about $12.1 million are adjustments to staffing levels, primarily through attrition and realigning positions. The budget also calls for saving about $3.7 million in non-staffing cost savings such as operational efficiencies and unfunded state programs.

“These are very difficult decisions. This takes a lot of care, planning and figuring out how the work is going to continue to be supported,” Banasick said, noting that about 84% of the district’s budget is in staffing.

Of the staffing reductions, the proposed adjustments would reduce spending on administrators and Central Operations by about 6.35%; school-based staffing spending would be reduced by about 4.24%. In a comparison of the ISD administrative costs against the 34 other districts in the Puget Sound Educational Service District, ISD falls 35th out of 35 for spending. In Washington state, our district ranks 289th out of 295 districts for administrative costs. When comparing investments in teaching staff, the ISD ranks 6 out of 35 districts in the Puget Sound ESD; or 49th out of 295 districts in Washington state.

For the past several years, the district has used a “stop, start, continue” framework in its budget analysis. While some work is intentionally time-limited based on need and impact, other work can be shifted into another position, department or team, she explained.

New investments will be aligned to student experience, access and strategic priorities, and include:

• Systemwide MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) universal screening to strengthen early identification and intervention
• Expansion of dual language programming through development of a Mandarin dual language pathway in preschool and elementary
• A shift to cost-effective service delivery models for mental health supports

Continuing core priorities and long-term commitments for consistency and support, including:

• Care coordination support for students and families via Care Solace
• Extended school year services (ESY) for students who receive Special Education services
• Curriculum implementation following prior adoption cycles
• Continuing Transition to Kindergarten programming in 2026-27 despite significantly reduced state funding
• Honoring and preserving voter-approved levy-funded programs and supports

Staff will continue to develop and refine the draft budget and will provide an updated budget preview at a June board meeting. Each year staff members also create an Annual Budget Guide. The board will host an official public hearing about the proposed budget and will formally adopt a final budget in August.