English Crossing Elementary

A Small District Going Big Places

Superintendent: Citizen’s Guide to the Budget

maintenance

Erin Greetings! It is hard to believe that it is officially August and that the first day of school, September 5, is only a month away. Within the school district, the summer months provide time for district staff to focus on small and large maintenance projects and prepare our facilities to welcome our students, staff, and families back to school. In addition, the summer is a time when our district creates our budget for the coming year.

The development of the budget is significant. We work to ensure that the use of our resources is in alignment with our district priorities and ensuring high levels of learning and growth for all students. It is imperative and our duty to maximize our use of available resources so that each student in the Lakewood School District experiences a world-class educational experience.

Lakewood School District has — and continues to be — committed to being strong stewards of taxpayer dollars and ensuring financial transparency to our community. I firmly believe that creating open lines of communication supports both clarity and the development of trust. With this focus in mind, our staff has spent time over the past month developing a Lakewood School District Citizen’s Guide to the Budget. This document is also available on our website under the Business Department tab.

Within the guide, you will find detailed information about school finance in the state of Washington, enrollment history for our district, types of district revenues and expenditures, and information on taxpayer approved funding (i.e., levies and bonds). The current Citizen’s Guide to the Budget was developed based on the budget from the 2022-23 school year. Our plan is to create a new guide early this fall to share out to the community for the 2023-24 school year and that at that point there will be documents for two years that will support ease in financial comparison or changes between the two years. Please feel free to reach out to me or our Executive Director of Finance James Peckham if you have any questions about the guide or district finances.

While the summer has provided time to get a lot of work done within the district, we miss you and are truly eager to welcome you back. Best wishes for a relaxing and joyous next month, and we look forward to seeing you soon.

All my best,
Erin

In accordance with RCW49.60, the Lakewood School District does not discriminate in employment and schools. The Lakewood School District provides Equal Educational and Employment Opportunity without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex, handicap/disability, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, religion, age, veteran or military status, use of a trained dog to guide or service animal by a person with a disability, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and designated youth groups. The district complies with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations to include, but not limited to, Title IX, Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, RCW 49.60 “The Law Against Discrimination,” and RCW 28A.640 “Sex Equity,” and covers, but is not limited to, all district programs, courses, activities, including extracurricular activities, services, access to facilities, etc. Inquiries regarding compliance procedures should be directed to Lakewood School District, 17110 16th Drive NE, Marysville, WA 98271, Attention: Title IX and Civil Rights Officer, Timothy Haines, 360-652-4500, thaines@lwsd.wednet.edu or ADA Compliance Officer and Section 504 Compliance Officer, Lissan Wipfli, 360-652-4500, lwipfli@lwsd.wednet.edu.