2024-25 School Year Budget
2023-24 School Year Budget
The Olympia School Board unanimously approved the 2023-24 school year budget during the June 22, 2023 board meeting.
2023-24 Budget Development
2023 Legislative Priorities
The Olympia School District will face funding shortfalls in the 2023-24 school year and beyond. The shortfalls are caused, in part, by long-term structural inequitable funding mechanisms (Regionalization, Staff Mix, low state salary allocations) and underfunded state or federal requirements (Special Education, Health Care, K-3 class size).
These shortfalls are exacerbated by enrollment declines driven by the pandemic. To address these financial realities, we request necessary legislative action as follows:
Provide Equitable and Flexible Funding
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Fully fund staff salaries so that the voter-approved levy is not subsidizing state basic education responsibilities
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Review regionalization so that Olympia is not placed at a disadvantage with neighboring districts
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Fully fund the salaries of experienced teachers
Fully Fund Special Education
Fully Fund Transportation
Continue Investment in Pandemic Recovery and the Physical and Mental Well-being of Students
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Increase investments and staffing to better support students’ behavior and mental health needs
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Support district efforts to provide multi-systems of support and ensure all staff have the training to provide trauma-informed care
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Fully fund school meals for all students
Close Opportunity Gaps and Advance Equity
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Support districts’ efforts to recruit, support and retain staff who reflect the diversity of the community we serve
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Fund necessary professional development for all staff to be responsive to the diverse needs of our learning community
Anticipated Expenditure of ESSER II and III Funds in the 2022-23 School Year
Below is a description of anticipated expenditures of ESSER II and ESSER III funds in the 2022-23 school year. Expenditures made in the summer of 2022 fall under the 2021-22 school year and are not included below. Amounts below represent estimated expenditure as budgeted through August 31, 2023.
In total, Olympia School District expects to expend the remaining $6.2 million of ESSER II and III funding in the 2022-23 School Year.
Expenditures that benefit all Schools
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Deploy 2.0 social workers ($204,000)
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Increase health room assistant hours by 6 hours and hire/deploy a Heath Services Director to provide leadership for 11 nurses, and 20 health room assistants ($272,000)
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Deploy a half-time Social Emotional Learning coach to train counselors and teachers ($70,000) on strategies to keep improving students social and emotional well-being
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In an environment of difficulty in attracting and retaining bus drivers, provide increased training to hire bus drivers, and devote a new employee to deploy substitutes/adjust routes ($125,000)
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Deploy additional substitute custodians to ensure full cleaning cycles ($65,000)
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Provide support to Multi-lingual program students (multiple schools) ($72,000)
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Manage ESSER grant funds to federal standards, and seek competitive grants to further enhance student recovery ($182,000)
Expenditures that benefit a group of Schools
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Elementary
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Instructional Coaches deployed to elementary and middle schools ($1,324,000) to help teachers differentiate instruction and provide targeted assistance to meet students’ academic recovery needs
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Family Liaisons deployed to elementary schools ($836,000) to assist families access resources that address their needs and pandemic recovery
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Secondary
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Decrease class size at secondary schools (adds teachers) (middle and high schools) ($1,016,000)
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Mentor Coordinator to develop a mentorship program at high schools ($85,000)
Expenditures that benefit a single School
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Add a partial teacher at L.P. Brown Elementary School ($25,000)
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Add a Dean at Capital High School ($112,000)
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Add a Dean at L.P. Brown Elementary School ($112,000)
Expenditures for Staff or Other Expenditures as a Replacement to Revenue Associated with Enrollment Decline
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Funds pay for staff positions that would otherwise have been reduced due to the revenue associated with enrollment decline ($1,754,000). Since the pandemic has begun, Olympia School District enrollment has declined about 700 students. The district has adjusted staffing down over time, but has not made sudden and extreme reductions in order to a) preserve staffing in the event that enrollment returns to more normal levels and b) to ensure that supports are available as students are recovering from the learning loss and emotional damage of the immense change caused by the pandemic.
ESSER Budget Details
2022-23 budget survey results
Each spring as the district plans the next school year’s budget, students, staff, parents/guardians and community members are asked to share their priorities for how the district should spend its local and state resources.
In spring 2022, the community was asked to complete an online budget survey to help the district plan for the 2022-23 school year. The deadline to complete the survey was June 3, 2022.
School Board Approves 2021-22 Budget
The Olympia School Board has unanimously agreed to adopt a $254.1 million budget for the 2021-22 school year.
The budget approved by the board on June 24, 2021 represents $171 million for operating resources and $63 million for capital investments, including $9 million for technology and safety levy investments approved by voters in 2018. The remaining resources are devoted to the Associated Student Body fund, Debt Services fund and Transportation Vehicle fund.
The operating budget includes the expenditure of $8 million in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds (ESSER II and ESSER III) devoted to the district's Academic and Student Well-Being Recovery Plan filed with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 1, 2021.
2021-22 Budget Process and Survey Responses
Thurston County Legislators
22nd District:
35th District: