School enrollment buoys budget

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 26, 2026

The South Whidbey School District is budgeting for its highest enrollment in the last decade.

Brook Willeford, the school board’s chair and president, relayed this during a meeting on Wednesday. Specifically, there are 1,132 full-time equivalent basic education students budgeted for next school year. State apportionment is one of the district’s five main funding sources — along with things like local property taxes — and is allocated per student and depending on whether they are full-time or part-time.

Declining enrollment is affecting the Oak Harbor district, as well as many districts state-wide. The Seattle Times reported in January that Washington public schools saw the “biggest single-year drop” in enrollment since “pandemic-era lows.”

Willeford doesn’t want to celebrate the upward trajectory in his district too soon.

“We are trying to recognize that we have seen an increase, but we’re not overly optimistic that there’s more coming,” he said.

Budgeting is nearly complete for the 2026-27 school year, and barring any last-minute changes, is set to be adopted by the board in early July before being submitted to the state in August.

Uncertainty with regards to enrollment is still considered an issue affecting the South Whidbey School District, according to a presentation, along with increases in insurance premiums and inflation. Specifically, the district’s health insurance rose by $932 per qualified employee.

Projecting that rise has been difficult. Willeford said in March he was told to expect an 18% increase in insurance premiums, but by the end of May, to expect a 28% increase.

“Getting that information that late after you’ve gone through your RIF periods or ability to RIFteachers and other staff puts you in a real bind,” he said.

Willeford said there are other districts in the region which saw insurance premiums increase by over 60%. According to a previous News-Times story, the Oak Harbor School district saw a 37% insurance rate increase in May from the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool, creating significant unexpected expenses.