School Finances Strong as Board Forecasts for 2010-2011

OASIS’ healthy growth bolsters School District funding

At the March 31 monthly Orcas Island School District (OISD) board meeting, the board discussed enrollment, staffing and funding before accepting the recommendation of Business Manager Ben Thomas to project the coming year’s budget based on 505 students enrolled. The enrollment projection is one of the first steps in formulating the budget and in determining the number of teachers and programs the school district can maintain.

This figure is a conservative estimate, similar to last year’s 440-student projection. Currently, OISD annual average enrollment is at 512 students (as of March 2010), broken down as follows:

• 194 students in Orcas Elementary School
• 52 students in Orcas Middle School
• 142 students in Orcas High School
• 9 students at Waldron School
• 115 students in OASIS High School/ALE – K-8^th grades

The board noted that there has been a large increase in OASIS (Orcas Alternative Student-Initiated Studies) from grades K-12. Upon questioning by Board Member Tony Ghazel, Elementary Principal Kyle Freeman said “There is nothing to indicate the bottom is going to fall out of OASIS.”

Freeman added that a few new students dropped out of the Orcas’ alternative education program and school “when they realized there are state requirements [regulating the school].” Those dropouts were  balanced by incoming students and families, Freeman said.

Superintendent Barbara Kline said that this year’s enrollment had been as high as 536, and that 600 full-time equivalent (FTE) students in the school district,  would be a “fairly realistic” number that would support staffing and buildings fairly well.”

Freeman said that one of the tasks before the district is to make sure “we have the organizational structure to support more growth,” which he foresees undertaking this summer.  Ghazel restated his concern that the district may lose students but be bound to teaching contracts. Board Member Janet Brownell said that for that reason, the board should project a conservative enrollment number.

At the March 31 meeting, the Board approved the consent agenda which added more teacher assignments to the OASIS K-8 programs and OASIS High School.

The Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) will have a workshop with the OISD board on April 20, as they did at this time last year to assist in formulating next year’s budget.  The BAC is obtaining figures on revenues and expenses, and on the final budget figures from the Washington State Legislature, (expected to be finalized this week in Olympia).

The BAC workshop will be at 5:30 p.m. in the School Library on Tuesday, April 20, in advance of the regular School Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 22.

In other funding news, Michelle Reed, Finance Committee Chair of Orcas Island Educational Foundation (OIEF), presented the School Board with a check from Richard Fadem’s Literature Class. The check was for $1,900 and is dedicated for school library collaborative seminars, the accessibility of the library for students of all ages and book acquisition.