The South Kitsap School District will move forward in the 2024-25 academic year with a budget that continues to creep closer to the $200 million mark.

The school board Aug. 7 approved the budget, which totals around $197 million. The large majority is $190.7 million in general fund spending that includes approximately $3 million in capital projects, $2.1 million in transportation, $994,000 in Associated Student Body and $366,000 in debt service.

Assistant superintendent Monica Hunsaker reported no changes from the draft version of the budget. “If there was for some reason, then I would be indicating the whys ahead of time, and there could be changes between the initial and the final. It does happen, but that hasn’t happened tonight,” she said.

The presentation instead served as a refresher of the major points of the budget. Among the changes between last and this school year is a state-funded 3.7% cost of living increase, increases in health benefits, additional special education funding and what Hunsaker said will be the last year of increased allocations for physical, social and emotional support staff.

Well over half of the district income continues to come from state general-purpose funding, but the district will soon need to address its levy funding. Voter-approved rates for 2024 and 2025 were set at $33 million and $36 million respectively, but due to lower student enrollment rates influencing how much is collected, the estimated collection has fallen to $28 million in 2024 and $29 million in 2025.

“If you lose enrollment, and our levy’s tied to enrollment, we’re losing levy funding, and we’re also losing state funding,” Hunsaker said.

While more work is expected to go into a future voter funding measure, enrollment predictions continue to remain conservative at an approximate increase of 69. Brick-and-mortar student counts are also expected to increase again.

“I’m really hoping it comes in higher,” she said. “We’ve had a couple indications that maybe our enrollment is coming in higher at some schools, but it is too early to tell.”