State budget crisis affects schools

As a result of the Legislature’s inaction to approve a state budget, our school board took the rare move on June 19 to authorize administration to temporarily loan money from the district’s Capital Projects Fund to its General Fund if necessary to meet operating expenses.

The Legislature is more than a month late in enacting a state budget. Unless lawmakers approve a budget by the end of June, the state will begin closing down services on July 1 due to the lack of authority to spend resources by state agencies. As a result, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will not have the authority to allocate basic education funding to school districts statewide, including Olympia.

The school board does not take the potential district interfund transfer lightly. We must, however, ensure district operations continue in the face of inaction by the Legislature. Simply put, if the Olympia School District does not receive its appropriate share of state resources in July and August, it may not have the funds to meet its August 31 district payroll. This loan, allowable by state law, can be avoided if lawmakers fulfill their constitutional duty to approve a budget without further delay.

Thanks to voter support, the Olympia School District has a sufficient Capital Projects Fund balance to manage an interfund loan and continue summer construction with no interruptions.

Our district employees, families and students, and people throughout Washington state, deserve immediate action from our elected leaders.

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 5:58 PM with the headline "State budget crisis affects schools."