Port Angeles School District budget sits at $64.5 million

Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 25, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District has proposed a $64.5 million operating budget that would spend slightly more than the $64.4 million it anticipates bringing in next year, even after staff narrowed a $2.3 million gap created by falling enrollment and a series of unexpected costs.

The proposal came during a public budget hearing Thursday, held as part of the school board’s regular meeting.

Superintendent Michelle Olsen and finance director Greg Geyer walked the board through how the 2026-27 budget was developed — from revenue and expenditure projections to cost breakdowns.

Much of the strain comes from declining enrollment. The district projects 3,088 students next year, down 135 from 2025-26 — a drop that resulted in a $1.4 million reduction in state funding.

Geyer said the great majority of general fund spending — 85 percent — goes to staffing costs, including salaries, health benefits and cost of living adjustments tied to the implicit price deflator.

Olsen said the gap between revenue and rising costs, first estimated at about $1.9 million in the spring, has since grown to roughly $2.3 million as new expenses landed.

Among them is a $360,000 increase in the cost of risk insurance that was $180,000 more than expected, a $79,000 reduction in federal Title I funding and a new unfunded state clean buildings mandate that will cost $55,000.

As the unbudgeted surprises add up, Olsen said, the district repeatedly reworked its spending plan to absorb them.

“Balancing this budget isn’t one decision,” Olsen said. “It is hundreds of informed decisions made over many, many months.”

The board is scheduled to adopt the budget at its Aug. 13 meeting.

As an example of how quickly numbers can shift, Olsen said the district learned that day from the Clallam County Treasurer that it will lose about $153,000 in property tax revenue for the current fiscal year (not 2026-27) because of an assessment error.

Geyer presented the June financial report to the board at its regular meeting, and it showed the general fund tracking close to plan for the year, with about $51.5 million in revenue against $51.7 million in spending. Cash reserves slipped to about $3.5 million at the end of June, but Geyer said that reflected a routine seasonal low and that he expects reserves to rebound over the summer as state payments increase in July and August.

The board approved a resolution to authorize the sale of the remaining $110 million of the voter-approved construction bonds. Olsen said the district plans to sell the bonds this fall, likely in October. She said an anticipated improved credit rating from Moody’s will give the district’s stronger finances and should draw more investors and better pricing.

The board also approved the 2026-27 fee schedule, which stayed largely unchanged. High school yearbooks will cost $60, up from $50. ASB, athletic and activity fees were left the same, although Geyer said the district may consider an increase next year to bring them in line with other schools in the area. Fee waivers remain available for families who need them.

The district also is adopting the Standard Response Protocol, a system used across the country and built around five actions: hold, secure, lock down, evacuate and shelter. Facilities Director Eric Britton and Casey McDonald of the Safe Schools Committee said the main benefit is clearer communication with families — dropping the term “modified lockdown,” which they said parents often read as an active shooter, in favor of “hold” or “secure” for lower-level situations.

“When people see the word ‘lockdown,’ they automatically interpret it that it’s an active shooter situation,” McDonald said. “What the SRP does is it takes that confusion away.”

Meeting minutes

The board postponed approving the minutes of its June 18 meeting after director Nancy Hamilton voiced strong disagreements with how they were written.

Other directors said they needed time to review an email Hamilton had sent that afternoon detailing her objections. Board President Sandy Long asked her to read her email into the record so the public would know what the board was considering.

Reading from the email, Hamilton said that, checked against the meeting’s video recording, the draft minutes contained factual inaccuracies, omissions and chronological reversals.

The board voted to hold approval of the minutes until its Aug. 13 meeting to allow time to review the email and recording.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.