In February, local voters approved two replacement levies that will provide the Northshore School District with $193 million in operating dollars over the four-year life of those levies that take affect next year.

At the same time, voters also OK’d a $149 million bond sale for capital improvements and building maintenance. All three issues passed by comfortable margins.

Still, with more cuts in education funding just having been approved by legislators in Olympia, Northshore officials are wondering if local voters might be in the mood to vote for yet a fourth money issue as soon as the August primary.

“I don’t think that any (school) board members have made their decisions at this point,” Northshore Board of Directors President Dawn McCravey said regarding going forward with putting another ballot issue before voters. She promised public input at some upcoming board budget sessions will play a big part in deciding what happens next.

Dubbed budget workshops by school officials, the remaining two of three sessions are set for April 21-22.

Specifically, what the board might be asking voters to approve is a levy lid lift of 4-percent. Northshore Superintendent Larry Francois said how much money a district receives in non-local funding is a percentage of the overall amount of non-local funding received. When Olympia legislators reduce the amounts going to individual districts, the state’s funding formula automatically results in even further funding cuts to those districts.

“You get hit twice,” Francois said, referring to the state formula as a double whammy.

Presumably in response to that “double whammy,” along with projected funding cuts, state legislators also adopted SHB 2893, which Francois said has two key provisions.

The first allows certain local collections to remain at current levels despite projected drops in state funding. In other words, while districts still are expecting to lose state dollars, they won’t automatically also lose at least some corresponding local dollars.

SHB 2893’s second big provision allows districts to go to voters and ask to increase the amount of actual dollars they collect locally, presumably to offset losses in state dollars.

Legally, districts are limited to collecting roughly 24 percent of their overall budgets locally. With local voter approval, SHB 2893 moves that figure to 28 percent. For Northshore, the numbers actually would change from 24.9 percent to 28.9 percent.

Officials estimate the levy lid lift could raise anywhere from $5.3 million to $12 million over four years starting in 2011. The amount depends on how much the district receives in state and federal funding. Neither Francois nor McCravey believe the higher-end estimate is likely.

But if the $12 million mark was hit, the district estimates the cost of the lid lift to property owners at 20 cents per $1,000 in valuation, or about $80 annually.

As for coming budget cuts, after going into what proved to be a long extra session, the state legislature finally adopted changes to its biennial budget on April 13. Francois said details of what the numbers mean for Northshore aren’t completely clear.

“We’re still getting some specifics, but we’ve got the big picture,” Francois said.

According to Francois, the state’s plan to close its $2.8 billion budget deficit ultimately means approximately $2.9 million less in state dollars coming to Northshore. Probably the biggest single hit will arrive by way of the total elimination of Initiative 728 funding intended to help keep class sizes near optimal levels.

Northshore used to receive about $8.8 million in such dollars annually. That figure dropped to $2.5 million for the current school year and disappears next year.

To close the funding gap, Francois and his staff are recommending the school board approve $3 million in spending reductions and revenue enhancements. By far the biggest adjustment is a proposed one-time expenditure of the district’s surplus, or fund balance.

McCravey said board policy requires the district to keep so many dollars in the bank, or in reserve. Both she and Francois emphasized several times that those dollars only will be available once.

Under the recommended plan, spending cuts will come in the form of lower utility spending and some staff modifications. The latter changes will not include teachers, but looks at consolidating bus routes and restructuring a special-education program.

Workshops

Facing a roughly $3 million reduction in state funding, Northshore School District officials say they want to continue a dialogue with the public on how to balance the school system’s books.

Last month, the Northshore Board of Directors held three “Conversations with the Board.” This month, the board planned three budget workshops. Two remain.

With both discussions slated for 6-8 p.m., the next workshop is April 21 at Inglemoor High, 1550 Simonds Road, Kenmore. The last workshop is April 22 at Woodinville High, 19819 136th Ave. N.E., Woodinville. A session was held at Bothell High on April 20.

The board also is accepting comments online via a survey posted on its Web site.