2024-25 Budget Development
Summary : Read Dr. Jones introduction to the 2024-25 Budget Book and view highlights for next school year's budget.
The Seattle School Board held a public hearing on the 2024-25 Recommended Budget on June 26, 2024. View the full agenda for the June 26 meeting. The School Board voted to approve the 2024-25 Budget during the July 2, 2024 board meeting.
Superintendent Budget Book Introduction
Dr. Jones’ introduction letter for the 2024-25 Recommended Budget Book
Dear Seattle Public Schools Community,
Thank you for your support of Seattle Public Schools and for your dedication to helping us carry our commitment to eliminating opportunity gaps to ensure access and provide excellence in education for every student. It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve as your superintendent.
The last few years have presented Seattle Public Schools and many other school districts across the country with unprecedented challenges related to the pandemic, enrollment losses, and continued underfunding. All of these together have resulted in a significant structural deficit that we have been working hard to resolve.
The district has made significant reductions in our budget to move towards a position of long-term financial sustainability. This has been accomplished with targeted reductions in areas furthest away from students and through a series of one-time internal borrowing strategies. Conservative fiscal practices and on-going reductions of $61.8 million in FY 2023-24 and $29 million proposed for FY 2024-25 have helped reduce the projected on-going deficit for 2025-26 to approximately $94 million (from $131 million in 2023-24).
In this document, we are presenting a balanced budget for FY 2024-25. However, we are now out of significant one-time options and will need to make more systemic changes to stabilize the system going forward. Stabilizing our budget will allow us to provide a more consistent and predictable experience for our students and families. Additionally, establishing a stable foundation will allow us to make future strategic investments until all schools are well-resourced and able to effectively meet the needs of all students.
We currently serve 23,000 K-5 students at more than 70 sites across the district, with an average enrollment of 317 students per site. Twenty-nine of our schools have fewer than 300 students. Given that the State funding model is based on the cost to run a 400-student elementary school, elementary schools this small are simply not sustainable and dilute resources throughout the system.
Many have asked if we could just increase enrollment or sell some of our properties to solve our financial problems. While we are looking at options to increase enrollment, increasing enrollment alone will not solve the on-going structural deficit issues. The sale or lease of properties are also being explored, but those proceeds would only benefit the capital program and cannot fund district operations.
The district can go in one of two directions – we can make further cuts to services, staff, and supports in all schools, or we can maintain and plan to enhance student services and supports with a reduction in the number of elementary schools to match elementary school enrollment. We must consider which is the greater priority – the location of the school building or the services and educational opportunities available to students when they are at school.
Whether Seattle Public Schools will need to make additional reductions on top of school consolidations and a change in bell times will depend in large part on the outcome of the 2025 Legislative session. We are working with our legislative representatives to communicate our needs in Olympia and appreciate their support.
Thank you for your dedication to Seattle Public Schools and to our kids. In the coming months, we will continue to engage with our communities around well-resourced schools and our strategic planning efforts. I encourage robust participation in these engagements as we work together to provide excellence in learning for the students of Seattle Public Schools.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brent Jones
Superintendent
Planning for the 2026-27 Operating Budget is Now Underway
How can families, staff, and community stay informed and participate in the budget development process?
- Attend School Board meetings in-person or remotely. View the School Board meeting calendar.
- Stay informed about legislative activities.
- Engage with your school and department leaders.
Operating Budget Development Documents
- School Board study session presentations will be posted here following each Board meeting.
Schools’ Budget Development Documents
- 2026-27 School Budget Development Instructions (“Gold Book”) Revised 2/24/26
- 2026-27 School Funding Allocations (“Purple Book”) Revised 3/13/26
Weighted Staffing Standards (“WSS”) Workgroup
Per district policy, the Weighted Staffing Standards “WSS” workgroup meets each year and makes recommendations to the Superintendent about potential changes for the following year’s direct school funding.
WSS Meeting Minutes
Due to the high volume of questions we may get on this topic, we will not be able to respond to every question individually.
We will create an FAQ on this webpage that will be updated with the most common questions. Please submit your questions for consideration and we will do our best to get all questions answered on the FAQ soon. Thank you for your understanding!
Submit Budget Development questions via Let's Talk