White Salmon Schools
Superintendent's Page

District Update

Superintendent's Corner A Message from Dale Palmer

It is hard to believe that the first quarter of the school year is behind us. The White Salmon School District has been a very busy place. Great education is taking place in the classrooms, athletic teams found success, and parent/teacher conferences were successful.

A special congratulation goes to our girl's soccer team that made it to the state playoffs. Several girls were honored by being named to the first or second "All Trico" teams, as well as coach Amy Kasenga being named Trico League "Coach of the Year". Congratulations to all!

In White Salmon, shrinking state revenues and student enrollment have caused our cash reserve to decrease from approximately 7.5% to approximately 3%. If you recall, last summer we reduced 5% of our staff workforce. This prudent move helped to partially solve the problem of declining cash reserves.

However, part of the school district's budget comprises what is called "Local Effort Assistance" or levy equalization. This is an attempt by the state to make a more level playing field between the more property "rich" school districts and the property "poor" school districts. Once a school district passes a maintenance and operations levy, the district qualifies for, and is awarded, this levy equalization. Last school year our district received $278,199 in levy equalization money from the state. This school year, as a result of property reassessments in Klickitat County, NOT counting the reassessments in the White Salmon area, the school district will receive just $215,417, or $52,782 LESS from the state. Next school year I expect to see another $40,000-$50,000 reduction in these funds because of the property reassessments in the White Salmon area. These funds are necessary to balance the budget.

Declining cash reserves and declining student enrollment are creating challenges within our district. We are working hard to provide the best possible education to our students. We are working to maintain the quality programs we have in place in our district, but declining revenues, which seem to be coming from many different directions, including areas not funded associated with the No Child Left Behind Act, are making this a real challenge.

Financial prudence has always been of utmost importance in our school district. We work hard to assure that all expenditures are carefully analyzed so that our patrons get the best value for your money.

-November, 2004

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