Budget Badge #03 - Budget: Salary and Benefits-Budget Badge #3

Budget Badge #3 - PowerPoint

Pdf Summary

This document explains how salaries and benefits drive school district budgets and how Washington’s state staff funding and collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) affect staffing costs and compliance.<br /><br />Staffing typically represents 80–85% of a district’s general fund expenditures, with major components being certificated and classified salaries and employee benefits. Washington funds staffing through the prototypical school model (RCW 28A.150.260), where student enrollment by grade band (elementary, middle, high) generates “funded staff units.” This is a funding model rather than a staffing mandate, but two areas do include compliance requirements tied to funding: K–3 classroom teacher staffing/class size and Physical, Social, and Emotional Support Staff (PSES).<br /><br />CBAs are locally negotiated union contracts that set employment terms (wages, hours, working conditions, leave, and benefits) and often define staffing-related provisions such as class size limits, overload/caseload remedies, specialist contacts, special education caseloads, supplemental contracts, buybacks, and overtime. Because CBA class size limits can be more favorable than state-funded class size assumptions, districts may need more staff than the state funding model provides, increasing local costs or triggering overload payments.<br /><br />K–3 compliance funding depends on a district’s demonstrated overall K–3 average class size, funded between 17 and up to a capped maximum (25.23). Teachers must be correctly coded in OSPI’s S-275 reporting to be included (generally Program 01, Program 79, and portions of Program 21); staff funded through many grants/programs may not count.<br /><br />PSES funding requires districts to demonstrate eligible staff-to-student ratios (also based on S-275 coding, typically Program 01 and districtwide Program 97). OSPI provides a compliance calculator tool, with preliminary results posted in January and penalties for noncompliance applied in March apportionment.<br /><br />Finally, the document summarizes benefits (often ~20–25% of expenditures), including mandatory payroll-related benefits plus SEBB eligibility (630+ hours/year) and retirement eligibility (70+ hours/month for at least five months).

Keywords

school district budgets

staffing costs

Washington prototypical school model

RCW 28A.150.260

collective bargaining agreements (CBAs)

K–3 class size compliance

OSPI S-275 reporting codes

Physical Social and Emotional Support Staff (PSES)

staff-to-student ratios compliance calculator

employee benefits SEBB and retirement eligibility