2026-27 Budget

This budget was constructed with the intent to ensure that current programs and opportunities remain in place, meeting the needs for all of our students. We remain dedicated to providing the best educational experience, exceeding basic education and providing the highest quality enrichment options for our students, as we work hard to help prepare them for life after high school.

For the past few years, the district has reduced expenditures in professional development, curriculum, and facilities. After maintenance level increases in payroll and other non-payroll expenditures, this budget aims to reinvest funds in these categories. This will help provide the tools for our staff to be best equipped for the education of RSD students as well as providing well maintained learning environments for our students.

The district is still needing to work on building the fund balance. Our priority will be to always meet the needs of the students and giving them the best educational experience. In doing so, the district is committed to operating as good stewards of public funds and building a healthy and sustainable fund balance.

At the time of budget development, the District projected ending the 2025–26 fiscal year with 12.51 days of cash on hand. Under the Financial Framework, this corresponds to an expenditure-to-revenue maximum target of 97.0%.

The 2026–27 budget aligns to this standard, with operational expenditures (total expenditures less additional built-in capacity) at 96.93% of revenue, maintaining a structurally balanced approach.

The 2025–26 school year experienced a 2.06% decline in enrollment from the prior year. In response, the District applied the framework’s conservative enrollment standard, budgeting at 98.5% of projected cohort enrollment to reduce apportionment risk.

This results in a total budgeted enrollment of 13,034, reflecting a 138 student decrease (1.05% less) in enrollment as compared to the previous year.

Payroll expenditures are projected at 82.66% of total revenue, aligning within the framework ideal target of ≤82.5%.

This level is consistent with high-performing, financially stable districts and supports sustainable staffing while maintaining strong educational programs.

To protect against enrollment uncertainty, the District will set aside 10% of non-employee related expenditures in unrestricted programs until enrollment is verified.

For 2026–27, this represents $2.67 million, providing a preliminary safeguard protecting the fund balance.

Richland School District's budget is divided into five funds: general, capital projects, debt service, associated student body, and transportation vehicle.

General Fund

• Expenses: day-to-day operations such as salaries, benefits, insurance, utilities, curriculum and other daily expenses.
• Revenues: state apportionment (funding), federal funds, and local non-tax revenue. 

Capital Projects Fund

• Expenses: capital improvements including land purchases, building renovations and upgrades, construction of new buildings, etc.
• Revenues: bonds and capital levies, state match (when available), and sales/lease of District property.

Debt Service Fund

• Expenses: principal and interest on bonds issued to finance school construction and renovation.
• Revenues: local property taxes.

Associated Student Body Fund

ASB funds are raised by students at most middle and high schools. 

• Expenses: student extracurricular activities, athletics, classes, etc.
• Revenues: school fundraisers, ASB cards, student club fees/dues, etc.

Transportation Vehicle Fund

• Expenses: the purchase, major repair, and rebuilding of school buses. 
• Revenues: state apportionment based on the depreciation of each of our buses.

The general fund is our largest fund of the budget. This funding is the widely used, paying for most everything the district needs to educate students.

State Funds: The largest source of revenue for the district comes from the state in two areas: state general purpose funds, called state apportionment, and state special purpose funds, called categorical program funding. The amount each district receives is based upon the annual average number of students enrolled in the district and a series of formulas that consider base salaries, employee benefits, supplies, materials, and operating cost allocations. These formulas are set by the state legislature. State special purpose funds support programs such as special education, student transportation, transitional bilingual, and learning assistance.

Basic education is funded by the state general purpose apportionment and is based on enrollment and the State’s average salary compensation. This revenue is used for core basic education programs, which include classroom teachers, librarians, counselors, paraeducators, nurses, school and department administration including principals and secretaries, and district-wide support, including the district office, custodial, maintenance, utilities, and basic education supplies. 

State categorical funds are intended to pay for programs that supplement the Basic Education instructional program, and are provided by the state based on formulas specific to each program, and include restrictions on how they are to be used. Funding for categorical programs includes Special Education, Food Service, Pupil Transportation, Transitional Bilingual Education, Learning Assistance Program, Highly Capable, and other educational enhancements. These funds may not be used for other purposes.

Local Funds: Local revenues account for approximately 14% percent of the income for the general fund and are essential to funding a well-rounded education. The majority of these dollars are from local property taxes collected from the passage of local levies. Other local resources include non-taxes that come from various sources, including fees, fines, rental income, interest earnings, and donations.

Federal Funds: These funds are very restrictive and can only be used for specifically designated programs. Federal funds provide dollars for specialized programs that support school improvement (Title II), disadvantaged students (Title I), and students with limited English proficiency (Title III). In addition, federal funds provide free and reduced-price lunch programs as well as supplemental funds for special education.

Other Funding Sources: Other financing sources include revenue from other school districts for special education services, grants from other government entities such as counties and educational service districts, or private foundations, and other financing sources such as sale of surplus property and transfers from other funds. These funds make up less than 2% of the general fund revenue. 

Washington state still hasn’t met its constitutional duty to fully fund public education and schools are being asked to do more now than ever before. As Washington State’s operating budget has increased, the percentage dedicated to funding K-12 education has not kept up. About five years ago, about 51.6% of the state’s general fund budget was dedicated to K-12 education. Now, it’s down to about 43.23%, even though costs continue to rise (source).

Learn more about how the lack of state funding is impacting the Richland School District. The website www.waschoolfunding.org also helps to put the scope of our state’s K-12 education challenges in context. This resource helps to clearly explain the issues creating financial pressure on K-12 school districts and the need for state funding allocations to reflect these increasing costs.