Spokane school board passes budget

All-day kindergarten for more kids, a state-mandated pay raise for teachers and restoration of some of the library services cut last year are among the highlights of a $308.2 million budget passed unanimously Wednesday by the Spokane Public Schools board.

There were none of the deep cuts of 2007, when Spokane’s largest district closed an elementary school, laid off some employees and went to part-time librarians in some schools to close a $10.8 million gap.

Still, the district is leaving about 20 teaching positions vacant to balance the budget and deal with an anticipated ninth straight year of declining enrollment.

Across the state, school districts are reeling from diesel prices that have risen from $2.97 a gallon at the start of last school year to nearly $5 this month.

And while Spokane Public Schools does not operate its own fleet of buses, its transportation contract with Durham School Services requires the district to cover fuel-cost increases – a big-ticket item, considering that its buses travel more than 2 million miles a year.

The budget includes:

•More than $12 million to cover a 4.4 percent salary increase that was mandated, and partially funded, by the state Legislature.

•More than $1 million in state money to expand all-day kindergarten from five schools to 12.

Educators say that kids enter first grade as better readers and more prepared for the rigors of school if they’ve attended kindergarten all day rather than half a day.

•$135,000 from the state to restore some library services.

The district last year cut $350,000 for libraries. Under lobbying from three Spokane mothers who have gained national recognition, the Legislature this year earmarked $4 million for school libraries statewide.