Eastern WA lawmaker wants to prevent other schools from trouble Prescott faces

OLYMPIA — Prescott School District in southeastern Washington could soon dissolve if state funding isn’t secured in this short legislative session.

But before the state stepped in to help Prescott dig itself out of a deficit — before the school district came under, first, binding conditions, then enhanced financial monitoring — signs of struggle were already apparent, said state Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg.

Dozier, a Prescott School District graduate and member of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, has introduced a bill that seeks to head off the kind of problems his hometown school district is facing.

In Washington, Prescott is one of seven school districts under binding conditions, but the only one under enhanced financial monitoring and on the verge of dissolution, according to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Dozens of other school districts, however, are facing some kind of financial hardship.

“I think we need to maybe engage sooner with these districts when we see those issues happening,” Dozier said at SB 6247‘s hearing in the committee on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Under his bill, school districts in binding conditions or “financial distress” would receive extra scrutiny and support from their educational service district, regional entities that help school districts prepare their budgets. ESDs would flag mistakes and odd expenditures, and work with the districts to correct course, the bill says.

For school districts in binding conditions, ESDs would review the districts’ budgets for malfeasance and offer budget guidance at school board meetings, the bill report says.

Dozier’s bill would also require school board directors to receive training by the Washington State School Directors’ Association in how to handle a school’s finances. Currently, directors get mandatory training in open government and diversity, equity and inclusion, but training in money matters is optional.

“When you get elected to a school board, your main focus is probably oversight of the budget,” Dozier said, “and even though there’s required training … the optional part is budgetary, which at this point, right now, I feel we’re lacking in.”

In addition, Dozier’s bill would toughen penalties for school district employees who, consciously or carelessly, spend more of the district’s money than has been appropriated. The person would not just be held civilly liable — and, if they knowingly committed the violation, forced to resign their post — as current law states, but would be barred from future jobs in Washington public education, the bill says.

The state would also have to reimburse a school district up to $750,000 for damages that the district could not recover after one of its employees, directors or officers has been the subject of legal action from the state Attorney General’s Office, the bill report says.

Tyler Muench, director of external affairs for the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, testified in support of Dozier’s bill, saying, “This bill promotes transparency, financial competence and responsible stewardship of public education dollars.”

Melissa Gombosky, legislative liaison for the Washington Association of Educational Service Districts, told the committee that the task of identifying budgetary wrongdoing would be better handled by the state Auditor’s Office than by ESDs, which are not regulatory agencies.

Julie Salvi, lobbyist with the Washington Education Association, agreed and said the term “financial distress” could be better defined.

Dozier has introduced another bill that would put in statute something that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction allowed the Prescott School District to do last year: loan a portion of its transportation vehicle fund to its operating budget. And, under SB 6065, if the school district can show its transportation vehicle fund is healthy, the district can petition OSPI to let the loan become a transfer without requiring it to be repaid.

Dozier said Prescott has been “working hard to meet some of the requirements that OSPI has put forth, and if we can meet those, hopefully we can stop the insolvency proceeding.”

Prescott Superintendent Jeff Foertsch said, “I am in support of senator Dozier, who is in support of our school.”

Erick Bengel is a Murrow News Fellow at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin whose beat focuses on rural civic affairs. He can be reached at ebengel@wwub.com or 509-526-8313.

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