Cascade School District is currently experiencing many of the challenges that school districts across Washington State are facing when it comes to school funding. We recognize challenges like budgetary constraints, enrollment decline, and inflationary pressures have an impact on our entire school community.

The District’s Board of Directors is looking at these challenges through the lens of our mission and values, and District leadership is taking actions that reinforce our dedication to providing every student with personalized learning opportunities designed to grow whole students. 

We assure our community that our school, academic, and student programs continue to meet the needs of our most valuable asset - our students. Cascade School District is proud to have wonderful students who receive individualized attention, learn from caring educators, and participate in rewarding opportunities for growth.

The school board will be actively working on four strategies to move the District forward in a direction that aligns with continuous student development: reduce spending, increase grant revenue (in particular, state and federal grants), continue to attract and retain students, and increase efficiency.

Excerpt from ESD 112 - Over the past few years, Washington has seen some big changes in the way the state funds its public schools. While the Legislature has invested more money into K-12 education, they have also limited a community’s ability to support programs and services that students and families rely on. This has left schools in a sticky situation, with a funding solution that is a few apples short of a barrel.

To get to the core of this funding challenge, it’s important to understand the primary ways schools get the money they need to operate. There are three main sources of funding for schools: the federal government, the state government, and local funding measures, in the form of bonds (funds for building) and levies (funds for learning).

League of Education Voters Foundation recently published a report titled "Underfunded and Unsustainable: An In-depth Look at the School Funding Crisis in Washington and its Impact on School Communities". The report outlines key findings from quantitative and qualitative research, and provides a set of recommended steps to understand and improve K-12 resourcing.

School Funding in Washington: What's at the Core of the Problem?

School funding may seem hard to understand in a district with a $26.7 million budget, but our budget is similar in many ways to yours at home, with a few important differences. 

General Fund - Operating budget which guides our day-to-day operations.

Capital Project Fund - Cover our long-term school construction and repair needs and cannot be spent on school operations.

Debt Service Fund - Pay the principal and interest on bonds issued to finance school construction and renovation.

Transportation Vehicle Fund - Used to buy school buses.

Associated Student Body Fund (ASB) - Accounts for each middle and high school’s extracurricular activities.

This table shows how student enrollment at Cascade School District has changed over time. The data is looking at at full time equivalency (FTE) rather than head count, as some students are enrolled part-time.