Chief Financial Officer Michelle Scott recently presented a summary of the financial picture for the 2024-25 fiscal year. See the full report.
Rising student enrollment
Battle Ground gained new students, bringing the full-time enrollment* for the year to 12,217 students. With more students comes additional state funding, but also increased operating costs, which are outpacing revenue.
*Full-time enrollment is different from head count enrollment. Full-time enrollment looks at the amount of time that students spend in BGPS schools and if they split their time with another district or program. A head count reflects a simple count of students.
Increasing operating costs
Operating costs outpaced funding by about $2.3 million and required use of the district’s fund balance (savings). Costs also are being driven up by unfunded mandates.
Unfunded mandates and rising costs put pressure on the district’s budget. The operating costs exceeded funding by approximately $1.93 million. When combined with a required $370,000 transfer to the debt service fund, the district used approximately $2.3 million of its fund balance (savings).
Operating costs equaled $230.77 million for the year. The three largest expense categories included:
78.3% of the costs were in school support, which includes teachers, student safety positions, counselors, health services and school support.
8% of the costs were in maintenance, operations, grounds, utilities and insurance
7.9% of the costs were in food services and transportation
Funding falls short of costs
State funding equaled $184.20 million, or 80.5% of the money that BGPS receives.
The second largest source of funding was the district’s soon-to-expire local levy, which provided $30.35 million, or 13.3% of the revenue for the 2024-25 school year.
While state funding and local levy collection for the 2024-25 fiscal year saw an annual increase, it is important to note that funding is not keeping pace with increased operating costs as a result of inflation and unfunded mandates.
Use of savings to maintain operations drops financial stability
The district’s “rainy day” savings account—its unassigned fund balance—has been fully depleted since the 2023-24 fiscal year. The assigned fund balance also dropped in 2024-25 due to curriculum-related expenses.
The unassigned minimum fund balance ended at $13.84 million for the fiscal year. This represents 6% of operating expenses. Maintaining an unassigned minimum fund balance between 4% and 6% is required by board policy and is necessary to provide financial stability.
Next steps
The district will report actual spending for the 2024-25 fiscal year to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Starting in January 2026, the Washington state auditor’s office will review the information part of an extensive look at the district’s financial statements and an accountability audit to ensure that public funds are well-managed.
The district projected 2025-26 budget was approved in August 2025. It reflects significant cuts due to the loss of an educational programs and operations levy. Starting in 2026, Battle Ground will be the only Southwest Washington school district without an EP&O levy.