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State Aid
In our 3-part series Decoding The Budget we learned that State Aid is the largest revenue source for the school district. In school year 25-26 State Aid will provide nearly $264M – representing over 60% of all non-construction bonding revenue. But State Aid is complicated and depends on a lot of formulas. Don’t worry –…
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Decoding The School District Budget – Part 3 (Expenses)
In Part 2, we described the various Funds that school district Revenue passes through. In this Part, we will explore the various expenses the district incurs to provide education for the community. Salaries By far the largest expense for the district is paying its employees wages. This includes pay for teachers, assistants, administrators, maintenance personnel,…
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Decoding The School District Budget – Part 2 (Funds)
In Part 1, we compared the various sources of revenue (income) for the school district. In this section we’ll explore the different funds that revenue flows to. Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding in school finance is that the district can move money around to cover expenses wherever they see fit. Instead, they are legally required to…
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Decoding The School District Budget – Part 1 (Revenue)
This is the proposed SoWashCo schools budget for school year 2025-2026. If that doesn’t make your head spin, then congratulation professor! But for the rest of us, this is a lot of numbers and a lot of math. But if we are to hold our school leaders accountable, we the parents need to understand the…