Will this cash-strapped Eastern WA school district be dissolved?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Oversight committee urges WA Superintendent Reykdal to rescind his dissolution letter.
- Voters, fundraisers and sales raised money to help district stay viable through June 2027.
- District stays on enhanced financial oversight through 2026–27; must file balanced budget.
A committee overseeing the Prescott School District’s finances says Washington Superintendent Chris Reykdal should reconsider his petition to dissolve the tiny district.
It’s a positive sign for the rural Walla Walla County school system, though the Prescott community is still waiting on pins and needles to see what Reykdal decides.
Prescott Superintendent Jeff Foertsch said he is expecting a decision this week from Reykdal.
In January, he recommended the century-old district be dissolved after determining it was “financially insolvent.”
The district serving 230 students and employing 50 had to raise about $1 million by April 1 after several years of alleged budget mismanagement and mounting debt.
But the response in recent months to save Prescott schools has been swift and successful.
These events provided the district with enough new resources that it will remain “financially viable” through at least June 2027, according to a March 20 letter from OSPI Chief Financial Officer T.J. Kelly.
- Feb. 10 voters passed a temporary levy supplement to raise $252,000 in taxes over the next two years. The funds will help pay for educational programs and operations. The levy received historic support at 87%.
- The district sold its old teachers cottage property for $363,000 to the city.
- Multiple fundraisers have helped collect around $170,000, said Prescott grad and state Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg.
- Legislative changes will allow the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to designate a portion of $636,000 to Prescott that previously benefited the struggling Marrysville School District. That will be used to resolve outstanding interfund loans drawn from its debt service and bus fund accounts.
Dozier said he is “very, cautiously optimistic” that the district will be able to remain open.
“We have met every single thing that we were asked to do,” he told the Tri-City Herald.
Foertsch said Kelly’s letter is a sight of relief for their anxious community.
“We are feeling good,” he said Monday afternoon. “As a community, we came together and accomplished the items set out by OSPI. But we know it’s not going to be over, not by a long shot.”
The district’s financial oversight committee includes Kelly and several other state and regional education financial officers.
It’s determined that Prescott is “not likely to meet minimum expenditure levels for certain programs” this year, but OSPI has approved the district to carry over unspent programs into the next school year to spend “in a more gradual and appropriate manner,” said the letter.
But even if the district is saved, it’s still far from out of the woods.
Prescott will still be required to write a balanced budget next school year to cover its ongoing debts and current programs without relying on future revenues.
Foertsch said the 2026-27 school year budget will look much like this school year’s budget, though the district will have a plan to pay off its debts.
Staffing will remain at similar reduced numbers, though they hope to begin hiring back paraeducators that they cut at the beginning of the year.
The state will also continue to keep a close eye on the district’s revenues and spending over the coming years as it works to get back on a steadier financial footing.
“While the overall situation is showing signs of improvement, Prescott School District will remain on Enhanced Financial Oversight through the 2026–27 school year,” Kelly’s letter said. “The district may return to binding conditions in December 2027 after receipt of the 2026–27 school year financial statements and verification of continued financial improvement.”
Prescott will get a first look at its 2026-27 budget at the April 23 school board meeting. Foertsch said OSPI officials plan to attend.
Century-old school district
Prescott was at risk of closing as early as June if voters and Prescott community members didn’t step in to help.
Many of those students would have been forced to attend classes in the neighboring Columbia-Burbank and Waitsburg school districts.
Prescott is an old railroad community, first settled in 1859. The economy had been supported for generations by the surrounding agriculture and wheat industries. The school district is currently the city’s largest single employer.
About two-thirds of its students come from low-income backgrounds, and 43% of its students are English language learners. Most of its students are the children of orchard and fruit processing workers and live along the Snake River in the FirstFruits Vista Hermosa housing community.
Like other districts of its size, Prescott has struggled in recent years with escalated costs for services and wages, as well as stagnant increases in funding from the state. The community has historically supported its schools with an active operations levy to help fill in the gap in state spending.
But its budget was allegedly mismanaged in recent years, leading to the worsening of its fiscal health.
About five years ago, the district’s general budget had a surplus of $2 million. It started out the current school year with a negative balance of $1.4 million in the red.
The new superintendent said he was surprised to learn when he took over that the district had about $1 million in credit card and bank loan debt.
If Prescott dissolves, it will be the first in Washington in nearly 20 years to suffer that fate. About 295 public school districts operate in the Evergreen State.
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 2:48 PM.
