Volume 57 / Number 1 September 2017

Washington Association ofSCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

Inside This Issue

Professional Development . . . . . . .1

President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

2018 Annual Conference . . . . . . . . .3

Message from the Executive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Report from the State Auditor’s Office . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Change in Accounting Guidance for FY2016-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Secretary-Treasurer’s Annual Financials Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8

Small Schools Networking Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Payroll, Personnel & Retirement Networking Group . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Leadership Development Networking Group . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

ASB Networking Group . . . . . . 13-14

Puget Sound Region . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Legislative Update . . . . . . . . . . 17-18

Professional DevelopmentBy Laura Blacklock

We have seen some significant changes this summer at WASBO. As we begin this school year, you will see and experience changes to our website, the delivery of professional development offerings and a shift in member communication.

In January, we sent a membership wide survey asking you to identify key areas of need, and the feedback is being utilized as the platform for development. Some of the top suggestions were:

1) ASB Certification

2) Online Class offerings

3) Make Forums and Committee meetings easier to access

4) Organized networking

Over the next school year we will be working on making these suggestions a reality. Currently we are looking at developing certifications in the areas of Accounts Payable, ASB, Purchasing and Financial Management. We are aiming to have a majority of the training online and utiliz-ing the Networking Groups (formerly the Committees) meetings to maximize timely information and lastly, watch for regional meetings being hosted by the Regional Board of Directors.

As for what’s coming up this fall, please visit the WASBO website for all these scheduled trainings.

1) ASB Workshops – http://www .wasbo .org/?page=ASB16

2) Ethics Workshop – Oct. 11, 2017 PSESD – http://www .wasbo .org/events/EventDetails .aspx?id=1006746&group=

3) PPR Workshop – Nov. 1, 2017 PSESD (Registration opening soon)

4) CSRM/Risk Management – Nov. 2, 2017 (Registration opening soon)

5) Payroll Series (Online) – http://www .wasbo .org/?page=201718Payrol

6) Retirement Series (Online) – http://www .wasbo .org/page/201718Retire

One last thought, take a few minutes to update your member profile to ensure you are receiving all of the communications and resources currently available to all of the WASBO members. If you have anything you would like to share with us, please feel free to send me an email at Laura@wasbo.org.

Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash

The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 2

President’s Message

By Cal Brodie, WASBO President

Wow, the start of another school year. Of course, the annual question “what did you do this summer?” My summer report:

In June, the WASBO Board held its annual retreat. Our retreat serves as an orien-tation and welcoming of our new board members as well as our focused opportu-nity to discuss WASBO and our plans for the next year, and beyond.

The outcome of our two days together was structured around the WASBO Strate-gic Plan with a focus around how the Board would move forward during the year. A quick summary of key work issues for the Board:

• WASBO regional structure. Board consideration as to whether our mem-bers would be better served by increasing the number of regions to 9 to correlate with the ESD regions.

• Member Dues Structure. Are there other membership structures or options that we should look at for consideration?

• Membership Committee Structure – Do we have the right committees? Are we supporting them adequately?

• Partnerships – we are coming up on the end of our first cohort of the very successful “New” WASBO partnership program. We need to review and decide as to any changes or enhancements that we want to roll out in our partner agreement renewals.

• And, of course, we explored and will continue to explore our methods and delivery of professional development services and support to you, our members.

You can locate the WASBO strategic plan under Governance on the WASBO website.

Officially, July 1 we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Executive Director, Brianne King. While it’s always hard to say goodbye to old friends, it is always fun to gain new ones. I encourage all WASBO members to reach out in some way and welcome Brianne. Brianne@wasbo.org

The McCleary Solution? Like so many of you I’ve spent a fairly ridiculous amount of time simply trying to understand and model what SSB 2242 does to the financial future of Washington Public Schools. I’m still not sure I have a complete, clear picture. I do know that this is a very important issue for education and our WASBO members and I personally look forward to participating in the conversations, presentations, and in the Local Funding Workgroup.

In my personal life I had some fun adventures this summer but, now it’s September, schools have started and The Puyallup Fair is going on just a short mile below my house. To all of you, try to find some fun time this month to balance against the important, very demanding jobs that you all do. Your life depends upon it!

Cal

The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 3

2018 Annual ConferenceBy Rich Puryear, WASBO President Elect and Annual Conference Chair

WASBO 74th Annual Conference Tacoma Convention Center / May 9 – 11, 2018

As President-Elect for 2017-18, it is my pleasure to serve as the annual conference committee chair. It is hard to believe another school year has started. I hope you had a relaxing summer.

We are asking WASBO members in the West Central/Tacoma area to help us plan the conference and are inviting you to become a member of our 2018 Conference Planning Committee. As a member, you would attend four meetings to develop the conference program including theme, Wednesday social activity, decorations, ex-hibitions, bucket raffle/silent auction, identify speakers and entertainment. Also, you taste food and decide the menu for conference. WASBO staff provides the logistical work for the conference.

As a member of the annual conference committee, you will be assisting your professional association in developing WASBO’s most important function of the year. To join, please respond to Ruth Foster at ruth@wasbo.org as soon as possible, but no later than September 25th.

Committee Meetings are at the Tacoma Convention Center from 10 am to 2 pm. Lunch will be provided.

Committee Meeting Dates are:

October 17, 2017 November 21, 2017

December 19, 2017 February 20, 2018

We are looking forward to working with you and hosting a great conference in Tacoma!

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Message from the Executive Director

By Brianne King

It is with great enthusiasm that I introduce myself to you as the new Executive Director of WASBO. I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to lead this association. I am passionate about providing programs and services to promote best practices of school business management, while providing a wide-variety of professional development opportunities. WASBO provides the tools and resourc-es you need to advance your career, stay informed on current issues, and connect with your colleagues. With Nancy Moffatt’s recent retirement, I know I have big shoes to fill! As I embark in this new role, I would like to share some of the plans for the upcoming year.

• Increase our Certification for School Business Specialist (CSBS) program . Currently, we offer tracks in Accounting, Payroll and Retire-ment. We are working on curriculum to provide tracks for Accounts Payable, Associated Student Body (ASB), Purchasing and Financial Management.

• Increase the value of a WASBO membership by offering more professional development oppor-tunities to include online and distance learning opportunities. We acknowledge the need to uti-lize technology to offer more accessible learning. We are committed to increasing our resources, best practices, templates and forms.

• Networking Groups (formerly named Committees), enable members to network while receiv-ing content specific information. This is a place to get your questions answered and learn about upcoming changes. We have made it easier to join a networking group and are working diligently to provide additional resources to help you do your job in a more effective way.

• Create a membership networking forum where members discuss issues, share ideas and best practices. This Forum will be monitored to provide additional training in specific areas, as needed.

• Create a Business Managers Cohort & Mentor Program designed to guide Business Manag-ers through school business processes with curriculum in finance, human resources, managing yourself and others, facilities, risk management, transportation, food services and other areas. Topics apply to the work you are completing throughout the school year.

• Continue to connect school business officials to reliable companies who provide services and products for schools. We will look for additional ways to utilize our Partnership Program to pro-vide content specific trainings via the web.

I appreciate the feedback I have received from many of our members. This feedback helps me to identify the support our members need most from WASBO. Many of the items listed above were inspired by member input. I will continue to collaborate with our members, Education Service Districts, Partners and other Agen-cies to increase professional development opportunities.

I would like to thank our volunteers. We have over 100 committed volunteers who serve in many different capacities. You are all vital to WASBO and empower us to provide our members with numerous opportuni-ties for learning. If you are at a place in your career where you would like to support WASBO in our mission to support our schools, please feel free to contact me. We are actively seeking volunteers to enhance the professional development we provide to our members. Opportunities to serve include the WASBO Board of Directors, Certification Governance Board, Committee Chairs & Co-Chairs, Instructors, Presenters, Speakers and Mentors.

We continue to have a great team at WASBO! Our focus is to provide the resources you need to enhance your ability to complete your work. Please reach out to connect with us at any time. I am excited about the upcoming year and the enhancements it will bring to our members. We look forward to hearing from you.

PiggybackingBy Cheryl Thresher, Audit Manager

“Piggybacking” refers to one local government making purchases from contracts awarded by another government or group of governments via an interlocal agreement or contract. Piggybacking is a convenient way to procure goods or services. However, our Office has seen an increasing number of local governments use this alternative method without completing the process properly. National purchasing cooperatives are becoming more widely used, and many of these are based in other states where the laws do not align with Washington law.

The key to maintaining compliance when procuring through piggybacking is to ensure your local government’s own bidding requirements are still met. State law (RCW 39.34.030), which allows for piggybacking, does not relieve any public agency of any obligation or responsibility with respect to purchasing, except for the notice of bids or advertising requirements. If the lead agency satisfies its own requirements for advertising and posts the solicita-tion on the internet, the piggybacking government’s advertising requirements are considered met.

In addition, we recommend governments exercise due care when procuring public works projects via the piggy-backing method. To use this method, the lead agency’s project and the piggybacking government’s project must be essentially the same. Both governments’ bid specifications should be very specific and include the same type of labor and materials. We would expect the only differences to be quantities purchased.

Our audits will focus on the controls the piggybacking government needs to ensure that its own bidding require-ments were met. The piggybacking government must be able to demonstrate its own bid laws were satisfied by the lead government.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 6

Change in Accounting Guidance for FY2016-17By Holly Burlingame, CSBA, WASBO Instructor and SDAAC Member

Interfund Services Provided and UsedThe School District Accounting Advisory Committee has been working hard on updates to the Accounting Manual, including some that may impact your FY2016-17 year-end closing. The accounting for Interfund Re-imbursements and Interfund Services Provided and Used will now be separated in accordance to GAAP.

Interfund Reimbursements are repayments from a fund responsible for expenditures to the fund that initially made the disbursement. The most common example is ASB and CPF salaries paid by the General Fund for reasons of convenience or software limitations. In this example, the entry to reimburse the General Fund is a decrease or credit to the expenditure account that was originally charged; thereby reducing the General Fund expenditure to zero.

Interfund Services Provided and Used are sales and purchases of goods and services between funds for a price comparable to their external exchange value. The most common examples are bus trips, food services catering, and printing services provided by the General Fund to the ASB or CPF. In the example of a bus trip, the payment of the bus trip would result in an increase or credit to revenues in the General Fund.

Districts may want to review their accounting entries for those transactions that meet the definition of Interfund Services Provided and Used and verify that reimbursements to the General Fund are recorded as a revenue rather than a reduction of expenditure. For further information on Interfund Services Provided and Used, see Bulletin No. 050-17 SAFS, Attachment D.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 7

Secretary-Treasurer’s ReportBy Joli Valentino, Director of Accounting, Northshore School District

The Board continues to strive to develop and adopt policies that provide quality in-service programs, equal professional growth opportunities to all the membership and to develop and maintain a leadership role with school districts, educational organizations, and the public regarding information and future directions of school business operations.

I respectfully submit the (unaudited) financials for the year ended June 30, 2017. The audit will be completed this fall.

Current Assets

Cash On Hand - Umpqua Bank $ 258,725.02)

Lincoln Investment 104,872.05)

Umpqua Bank Money Market 32,253.08)

Scholarship Fund 21,645.55)

WSECU CD-Acosta Scholarship 4,249.50)

Accounts Receivable 90,821.50)

Allowance for Doubtful Accts (335.00)

Total Current Assets 512,231.70

Property and Equipment Building 387,148.39)

Furniture/Fixtures/Equipment 28,677.71)

Accumulated Depreciation (27,443.49)

Accumulated Depreciation-Bldg (90,582.78)

Total Property and Equipment 297,799.83

Other Assets

Prepaid Insurance 8,772.75)

Prepaid Other 16,905.54)

Total Other Assets 25,678.29

Total Assets $ 835,709.82

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 8

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

Current Liabilities

Accounts Payable $ 10,717.23

Accrued Vacation 17,402.66

Retirement Payable 596.81

ASBO Dues Payable 430.00

Deferred Revenue 82,800.00

Deferred Revenue - Member Dues 126,735.00

Deferred Revenue - Vendor Dues 11,900.00

Federal W/H Taxes 3,475.65

FICA 2,602.00

SUTA 101.75

L&I 390.84

Vanguard - Payable 500.00

Total Current Liabilities 257,651.94

Long-Term Liabilities

Total Long-Term Liabilities 0.00

Total Liabilities 257,651.94

Net Assets

Fund Balance 574,149.37

Net Income 3,908.51

Total Net Assets 578,057.88

Total Liabilities & Net Assets $ 835,709.82

Unaudited - For Management Purposes Only

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report continued from previous page

The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 9

Small Schools Networking GroupBy April Kaech, Chair and Business Manager, Morton School District

School is back in session, I hope you all had a chance to take a break this summer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you that attended our 2017 Accounts Payable Workshop in August. I was so impressed with all of the individuals who attended and the amount of knowledge that flowed through the room with over a 100 people present. The accounts payable workshop is held every August so keep that in the back of your mind if you missed it. Mrs. Holly Burlingame, led the workshop by covering topics that in-cluded Accounts Payable Manual Updates, Fiscal Year-End Processing, and Travel and Meal Reimbursement. We also had Justin Lanting, from Olympia School District who gave us a humorous overview of Working in a Paperless Environment. The Department of Revenue was represented by John Glen who gave a presenta-tion and answered numerous questions on Sales and Use Tax. Last, but not least, we had Paula McCoy from Ridgefield School District cover Disbursement Fraud. Without those individuals stepping up and sharing their knowledge of these important subjects, our workshop would not have been so successful. I have been in the district for 16 years and definitely took information back to work to share with my staff.

The Small Schools Networking group is still in need of a Co-Chair to work alongside me this school year. If you are interested, please reach out to me at akaech@morton.k12.wa.us. Being part of the Small Schools Net-working group and working with the Accounting and Budgeting Networking group, I have developed a core group of people that I can rely on to help me through situations that arise or people that I can bounce ideas off of. This is so important when working at a small district. It is impossible to know everything about every piece we are responsible for. Being a part of this networking group will give you the resources you need to be successful. It will keep you up to date with changes that are being made. This will be crucial in the up-coming years with all of the changes being made to the funding of education. Even if you do not want to take on a networking chair position, attend the trainings and monthly meetings and keep yourself informed.

I wish you all the best this school year. Keep your head up and stay strong. Change is hard, but we always get through it.

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Payroll, Personnel & Retirement Networking GroupBy Angie Marek, Chair and Payroll Manager, Bethel School District

Fall is in the air and with it comes staff and kids returning to school. Your Payroll, Personnel and Retirement Networking Group has been hard at work preparing topics for the 2017-18 school year meetings. Darlene Gjelsteen & I will be continuing as co-chairs this year. If you have a topic you would like to see presented at our monthly networking meetings please let one of us know. I would like to give a special shout out to the staff at

WASBO for all their help this past year, we appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Watch for the registration opening for the November 1st Fall Workshop. We have pre-senters coming for HIPAA, Er-gonomics, HB 1433 Sick Leave implementation, Castle Rock/FLSA & Employment Rules, New Unemployment Rules and much more…. Plan on attending and encourage your co-workers to attend also.

Our Payroll, Personnel & Retirement (PPR) Network-ing Group will be meeting the following dates. The host site is ESD 113 and the meet-ing is broadcast via ZOOM. We encourage districts who can’t make it in person to get together to participate.

October 3rd

November 1st- Workshop in Renton PSESD no committee meeting

December 5th

February 6th

March 6th

April 3rd

May- WASBO Conference no meeting

June 5th

Make sure to mark your calen-dars and join in. Also, update your WASBO profile to include any Networking Groups you would like to join. By doing so, the meeting information will be sent directly to you each month. We look forward to a great 2017-18 school year.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 12

Leadership Development Networking Group ReportBy Denise Wolff, WASBO Leadership Development Chair

Leading Through ChangeYogi Berra once commented, “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”

Do any of us really know where we are going? Most of us have some idea, but life happens, legislation hap-pens, technology happens, and all kinds of other things get in the way of “the plan” and complicate our abil-ity to get the job done. It can be challenging to be a leader when we have other people making decisions that have major impacts on what we do and how we do it.

Leaders have a major role in setting the vision and goals in their organization, and then creating a motivat-ing environment for people so those goals can be reached. Many of the changes the public school system will face over the next few years will require strong leadership, motivational skills, and project management. We, as leaders, must project an attitude and a work ethic that empowers an individual in any role to lead from the top, middle, or bottom and be part of the change process. Strong leaders can help an organization be productive and achieve their goals, whereas weak leadership can hurt productivity and compromise the overall health of the organization.

Being a leader helps you teach leadership skills to your employees, who will then recognize and accept the coming changes and continue to move forward on our mission. Some of those people will become the lead-ers of tomorrow.

Hopefully, some of you folks will find time to zoom into the Leader Development Team meetings this year. We meet the first Thursday of the month (most months, check the WASBO Networking Groups section on the website for our calendar) at 9AM. We will be tackling issues surrounding change and leadership, and helping set the tone for a productive future.

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ASB Networking GroupBy Patti Leverenz, Chair and ASB Coordinator at Highline School District

I’m looking forward to being the ASB Networking Group Chair for 2017-18. I was part of the ASB Manual Update Team this past year, and I’m eager to continue the work we started. Our goal was to produce a con-densed, easy to ready manual that you can print out in sections or as a complete manual. We have updated sample forms and other documents, too.

The updated ASB Manual and template forms have been posted to the ASB Networking Group webpage http://www .wasbo .org/?page=9 and the information is available to WASBO members. If you are not a WASBO member, we encourage you to join to stay connected with current topics and updates. We have some great presentations scheduled for this year.

Here is the 2017-18 ASB Networking meeting schedule:

Date 2017-18

Topic/Presenter

September 26 Beginning of year startup from the students’ perspective – Bonney Lake High School Students

October 24 Association of Washington Student Leaders – Chiawana High School Students

November 28 WA State PTA

December No Meeting

January 23 Alliance for Student Activities

February 27 ASB and Risk Management

March 27 Budgeting- the students’ perspective – Nathan Hale High School Students

April 24 State Auditor’s Office

May 22 10 Pretty Interesting Questions

If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for one of the 13 ASB Workshops, I encourage you to take advantage of this professional development opportunity. The schedule is listed below and you can register by going to: http://www .wasbo .org/?page=ASB16

2017-18 ASB Workshops:

Date 2017-18 City Facility Date 2017-18 City FacilitySeptember 12 Bellevue Bellevue SD -

Rainier RmOctober 25 Spokane ESD 101

September 14 Pasco ESD 123 November 2 Tacoma PDC

September 20 Spokane Red Lion November 8 Pasco ESD 123

September 27 Vancouver ESD 112 November 15 Tumwater ESD 113

October 4 Everett Board Room A/B January 18 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap

October 12 Renton PSESD January 22 Renton PSESD

October 19 Yakima Yakima Convention

As a reminder, you should be posting annually the ASB Fund Balances on the district website. The balances should be posted on each school’s website. You can easily do this by posting a link to the shared document on each school’s site. The RCW that states what must be posted follows on the next page.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 14

RCW 28A .325 .050

Associated student body program fund—Publication of information on school district web site .

(1) Each school district that has an associated student body program fund must publish the following infor-mation about the fund on its web site:

(a) The fund balance at the beginning of the school year;

(b) Summary data about expenditures and revenues occurring over the course of the school year; and

(c) The fund balance at the end of the school year.

(2) The information under this section must be published for each associated student body of the district and each account within the associated student body program fund.

(3) If the school district web site contains separate web sites for schools in the district, the information un-der this section must be published on the web site of the applicable school of the associated student body.

(4) No later than August 31, 2014, school districts must publish the information under this section on their web sites for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. School districts must add updated annual information to their web sites by each August 31st, except that school districts are only required to maintain the informa-tion on the web site from the previous five years.

We encourage participation in the monthly ASB Networking Meetings. We use Zoom, which allows members to attend the meeting remotely. Members can now watch the presentation from their desk or continue to meet as a group within the district. We are also recording the meetings and you will find the recordings at http://www .wasbo .org/?page=9

ASB Networking Group continued from previous page

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The ASB Networking Group encourages you to participate in the monthly meet-ings. It’s a great way to network with other districts and gain knowledge about various ASB topics. If you would like to be added to the ASB distribution list, please update your Member profile on the WASBO web-site.

Contact Information:

ASB Chair: Patti Leverenz, ASB Coordina-tor, Highline School District Patti.Leverenz@highlineschools.org or 206.631.3203

ASB Co-Chair: Marty Fortin, AWSP fortin@awsp.org or 360.497.7131

The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 15

Puget Sound Region ReportBy Jane Murray, WASBO Director Puget Sound Region

Greetings from the Puget Sound Region! This year the rain turned off and the sun turned on, and on and on. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and you were able to spend some quality time with family and friends.

School has started, year-end is banging at your door and we hit the ground run-ning. In fact, it often feels like we are in constant running mode. As we tackle the fall-out of the 2017 Legislative Session, there are many unknowns. There are also many things we know that need to be fixed. The unknowns are scary and many of the fixes will not be perfect for every school district. No doubt, these will prove to be challenging, frustrating and exhausting times. Now more than ever we need to rely on the wealth of knowledge, expertise and collaboration of the great minds this organization has among its members.

We all face the coming year with trepidation, but we will never lose sight of what it takes to get the job done. As an ESD employee, I know just how hard you work every day to get the job done. The job of educating our young minds and giving them hope and dreams along the way.

I want to thank Scott Emry for filling these shoes for the past 3 years. I am honored to serve as your new Director of the Puget Sound Region.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 17

Legislative UpdateBy Dan Steele, Legislative Consultant and Linda McDermott, Legislative Committee Chair

Given the ongoing split control of the Legislature and a continuing mandate from the Supreme Court to com-ply with its 2012 McCleary education funding decision, it was assumed 2017 would not be an ordinary ses-sion; however, it turned out to be even longer and more difficult than most legislative observers predicted. The Legislature, scheduled to adjourn on April 23, did not officially leave town until July 23. The first session of the 65th Biennial Legislature adjourned after a record-breaking 193-day session—that is a full 105-day Regular Session and three 30-day Special Sessions.

There were multiple major issues on the table for the Legislature to address, but the real focus—and the real difficulty—was a new two-year Operating Budget and an Education Funding Plan to finally address the Supreme Court’s orders under McCleary. In October, the Supreme Court released its newest orders which clarified the State (i.e., the Legislature) has until September 1, 2018 to fully implement its program of basic education, amply providing for the state’s constitutional paramount duty. The Court also clarified that, while September 1, 2018, was the ultimate deadline, the details of the basic education program “must be in place by the final adjournment of the 2017 Legislature.” They added, those details must include “funding sources and the necessary appropriations for the 2017-19 biennium.” This meant the 2017 Session was the Legisla-ture’s last opportunity to solve the McCleary problem.

Education Funding PlanThe Supreme Court twice ordered the Legislature to adopt a “complete funding plan” to comply with the K-12 constitutional mandate. After failing to comply with the 2012 and 2013 orders, the Court found the Legislature to be in Contempt of Court and later imposed sanctions of $100,000 per-day until the required plan was submitted.

In 2016, the Legislature finally responded by adopting its “plan” in E2SSB 6195. The bill established another Education Funding Task Force and charged them with providing a series of recommendations by January 9, 2017—the first day of the 2017 Session. In its 2016 post-budget compliance report, the Legislature argued they had “complied with the Court’s orders to submit a plan” and stated the Contempt Order should be dis-solved and the sanctions terminated. The Court responded by summoning the parties to appear before the Court. The main question to be addressed was: “What significance, if any, the Court should attach to E2SSB 6195 in determining compliance with the Court’s order to provide a complete plan?”

Following the hearing, the Court issued its new orders noted above. Because of the Court’s October order, it was clear the Legislature could no longer put off adopting a required “complete plan” to meet its obligation to the constitution—and the Court. The new Education Funding Task Force began meeting in April and con-tinued meeting until the first day of the 2017 Session, when its recommendations were due. Unfortunately, due to partisan bickering, the Task Force was unable to adopt any required recommendations—or even a simple report of its activities. After eight months of work, the Task Force had nothing to show for it. The Task Force was set to provide the Legislature with some guidance, but the failure to provide recommenda-tions made the effort to reach a final McCleary solution more difficult.

Rather than starting from a set of bi-partisan recommendations, the four caucuses were left to fend for themselves and the Education Funding Plans that came forward were purely partisan proposals. The Senate Republicans introduced SB 5607 (later revised by SB 5875) and pushed it hard. The House and Senate Demo-crats introduced HB 1843/SB 5623 (later replaced by HB 2185). The two plans were so far apart there was no apparent way to meld them together into one final plan. A group of moderate Democrats in the Senate in-troduced another plan, SB 5825, in an effort to find a “middle way” and influence a final package. The House Republicans also drafted a plan; however, it was never officially introduced or otherwise released. House GOP Leadership was scheduled to publicly unveil their proposal, but after briefing their Senate colleagues, a public release never occurred. It was clear that Senate Leadership did not want their colleagues introducing a plan that veered from their own.

With multiple legislative plans on the table (including a proposal introduced by Governor Inslee as a part of his 2017–19 budget request), the Local Funding Workgroup stepped up its advocacy efforts. The Workgroup, established by WASBO, and joined by WASA in 2014, expanded last year to include school directors (WSSDA), HR directors (WSPA), school principals (AWSP), and maintenance officials and nutrition staff (AEA), and now represents nearly 8,000 school district leaders. Workgroup members analyzed each education proposal and developed a common set of recommendations which were disseminated to each of the Workgroup’s memberships. Collectively and individually, we pushed the recommendations to as many legislators as possible.

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The WASBO REPORTER September 2017 Page 18

Due to the high stakes involved with a once-in-a-generation major overhaul of K-12 education, WASBO members and other administrators (and the full education community) were more engaged with their local legislators than ever before—and, in large part, were more unified than ever before. When the final Education Funding Plan, EHB 2242, was released (just a day before it was debated and voted on) it was clear there were issues which we posi-tively influenced (maintenance of the Prototypical School Funding Model, for example); and areas in which we lost (elimination of the Salary Allocation Model and staff mix, for example). The final bill included some positive changes, but also includes some troubling provisions and a whole slew of unanswered questions. WASBO and WASA, along with our Local Funding Workgroup colleagues are continuing to engage to fully analyze EHB 2242 to offer assistance to school districts and develop a comprehensive list of issues to be “fixed” in the 2018 Session.

As we move towards 2018, you are strongly encouraged to understand what EHB 2242 will do—along with the specific impacts on your district. You are also encouraged to continue to work with your superinten-dents and school boards in advocating with your local legislators. Many—in fact, most—legislators truly believe McCleary is “done.” Whether the Supreme Court (which has the final say) ends the case or not, the impacts of McCleary and EHB 2242 will continue and it is incumbent on business managers and other admin-istrators to lead the charge in advocating for necessary corrections.

Next StepsThe ball is now in the Supreme Court’s hands. At the end of July, the Legislature filed its required annual compliance report with the Court. They claimed, “The State has remedied the constitutional deficiencies in the prior funding system” and said, “The Court should find the State in compliance with Article IX, Section 1, re-lease the State from its contempt orders, and terminate this appeal.” The plaintiffs in the case, the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) filed its response at the end of August and rejected the Legislature’s claims. They argued the actual funding provided to school districts is less than claimed, and the Legislature has not yet complied with the Court’s order to amply fund the State’s constitutional paramount duty.

The Court now must determine if the Legislature’s efforts meet the mark or if more work needs to be done. If the Justices decide not to immediately relinquish jurisdiction in the case, it is likely they will summon the parties for oral arguments before the Court. That would not occur until at least the first week of October. We will continue to keep you apprised.

Legislative Update continued from previous page

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