How is Tahoma School District funded?

Tahoma School District's funding comes from a combination of federal, state and local sources. State funds, often called apportionment, are driven largely by the district's full-time equivalent (FTE), which means how many students are in our schools during the day (this is different from headcount, which is the total number of unique students in our school district and is typically a higher number than FTE). Washington state distributes funds to districts based on how many students are enrolled. Those dollars are allocated according to a formula known as the "prototypical funding model," in which funding is based on a predetermined ratio of teachers and other staff to students.

Below is Tahoma's FTE over the last decade. There are many additional factors that determine our federal and state apportionment, including special education enrollment, families enrolled in free & reduced meals programs, donations, grants and more.

TSD saw a decline in FTE during the COVID-19 pandemic. TSD enrollment has since returned to where it was pre-COVID, and the district expects continued growth over the coming years.

*This is based on October K-12 FTE data of each year. For example, "2013" represents October K-12 FTE from the 2011-2012 school year.

Where does the money come from?

As enrollment has grown (well over 1,000 additional students since 2010), so has the district's state apportionment. Revenue from the federal government has stayed more consistent. Meanwhile, local revenue has decreased approx. $6M from 2016-17 to 2020-21, meaning property owners are paying less in school district levy taxes than they were 6 years ago.

On the graph below, you'll notice a significant increase in state apportionment from 2017-18 to 2018-19. This is mostly attributed to the McCleary Decision. This Washington State Supreme Court ruling determined that the state was not meeting its constitutional duty to amply fund basic education in public schools. The solution changed the formula used to determine state funding for each school district, increased state property taxes and decreased the local amount that school districts are allowed to collect via bonds and levies in order to supplement "basic education." For more on the McCleary Decision, CLICK HERE.