Clarkston School District deals with dip in enrollment
Mar. 1—The Clarkston School District is one of many school districts in Washington facing a decline in enrollment and will have to make adjustments to its budget for the 2024-25 school year.
Superintendent Thaynan Knowlton said at a Monday school board meeting he discussed a resolution, which was signed, that will authorize the district to develop a modified education program. There have been no decisions made yet and the district is in the information-gathering stage to figure out what its needs are for the 2024-25 school year.
"But if we don't make some changes now, next year we could have some problems," Knowlton said.
He said the district has some options with the budget and will first look into using reserve funds if the school board authorizes it. Then the district will look at reducing administration and support and next will reduce supplies and services. The last option would be staffing changes based on enrollment numbers at the schools. Knowlton said the priority method he outlined was to prevent students' education from being impacted.
"We'll try to stay as far away from the classroom and students as possible," Knowlton said.
Knowlton said the hope is to have a plan in place by the end of March. The district will listen to managers, principals, teachers and unions to "figure out how we're going to move forward."
Knowlton said data from the last five or six years showed that Washington is experiencing a 4% decline in overall enrollment. Knowlton said the Clarkston School District has seen the decline mostly at the high school level. The enrollment dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic but hasn't rebounded as some students haven't returned to the classroom. Districts are also no longer receiving COVID-19 funds that were issued in the pandemic.
A Seattle Times article in January stated that while the state had a 0.2% increase from 2023 to 2024, enrollment numbers haven't reached pre-pandemic levels. There were 1,146,882 students enrolled across the state in 2019 and 1,098,997 students this year. The Tukwila School District in King County lost the highest number, 11%, from 2019.
The other issue affecting the Clarkston district's budget is inflation. Cost of fuel went up 67%, utilities were up 35% and food and nutrition services increased 25%. Knowlton said that the biggest increase was liability insurance, which nearly doubled from $350,000 a year to $650,000. Knowlton said districts across the state have asked the legislature to reduce the insurance amount to help with financial strains.
"It hit us pretty hard," Knowlton said.
Every year the board adopts a budget and then estimates enrollment for the next year in June or July. Those numbers impact how much funding it receives. But unexpected costs like the increase in insurance or inflation are affecting the yearly budget once school starts.
"At a certain point we need to do something so we have a sustainable budget for next year," Knowlton said.
School districts like Clarkston's aren't anticipating additional help from the Washington Legislature.
"It doesn't look like it's going to be a year that's going to provide a lot of extra support," Knowlton said.
The district doesn't have many ways to increase enrollment, but there is one program that could help. The Clarkston district began a virtual online school for students anywhere in Washington. It's unique in the state because the district literally brings the students to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and shows them the history of the Nez Perce tribe and of the explorers Lewis and Clark. They also visit local museums and travel up the river.
The online school is only about a year old, but the district is hoping that method helps bring in more enrollment and revenue.
"We think we're in a good position, so we're going to continue to watch and monitor how that progresses," Knowlton said.
Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.
