At the April 9 school board meeting, Steve Olsen, chief fiscal officer, presented state budget proposals released to date, and how each would impact Vancouver Public Schools. The estimated impact on the VPS budget for 2013-14 is $11.5 million based on former Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposed budget, $10.6 million based on Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed budget, and $8.7 million based on the Senate’s proposed budget. The House budget proposal had not yet been released.
The actual impact on the district will not be known until a consensus budget has been adopted. This year’s 105-day legislative session is scheduled to end April 28, but a special session could be called if the House, Senate, and Governor have not agreed on a budget. Law requires that the state budget be balanced.
“It appears that elected leaders in Olympia will be making a down payment on the McCleary ruling,” said Superintendent Steve Webb. “Several questions remain to be answered, including: 1) How much? 2) In what areas? 3) With what restrictions? And finally, what are the ‘reform bill’ policy trade-offs needed to get to consensus? New money that does not provide relief, that simply asks our public schools to do more, is not consistent with the court’s directive.”
