School Briefs

Shelton schools pass $78M budget

The Shelton School District on Tuesday evening approved a $78-million budget for the 2022-2023 school year. The district is required to approve its budget by Wednesday.

The budget is based on the district's projected enrollment of 4,125 full-time equivalency students.

The budget projects $78,766,889 in revenue, and $78,087,902 in expenditures. The expenditures are $3.6 million higher than the 2021-22 budget.

Of the $78 million, $64.8 million is for personnel, including $32 million for certified salaries, which include teachers, principals, librarians, counselors and some district administrators; $14.54 million for classified salaries, which include paraeducators, office personnel, custodial, grounds workers, maintenance, bus drivers, food service, department administrators, technology, pool staff and coaches; and $18.25 million for employee benefits and payroll taxes for certified and classified employees.

The remaining $13,284,653 in expenditures are $5,907,653 for supplies and instructional materials; $7,066,801 for purchased services that include vendor contracts, utilities, insurance, Educational Service District services, conference registrations, consultants and trainers; $116,199 for travel expenses such as mileage, meals and lodging; and $194,000 for single-item capital outlay items of more than $5,000.

The state will give the district almost $43.7 million for basic education - 55.45% of its revenue - and almost $15.4 million for other educational programs. The district will receive $12.1 million from the federal government, $5.4 million from local taxes, and $1.6 million from neighboring districts for cooperative programs such as transportation and to educate secondary students from other districts.

The district begins Sept. 1 with an estimated beginning fund balance of $2.5 million.

Olympic College scholarships available for fall

The Olympic College Foundation is awarding more than $190,000 in scholarships for fall quarter.

Sept. 9 is the deadline to apply. The scholarships will be awarded in time for the beginning of fall quarter on Sept. 19.

Several of the scholarships focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Other scholarships focus on the performing arts, communications and academic excellence.

Applicants are required to write brief essays about themselves and what matters most to them, their continuing education, and how they hope to use their OC education to benefit themselves, their family and their community. Additional brief essays might be required for individual scholarship applications.

Applications and scholarship details are available at the Olympic College Foundation scholarship application web page https://olympic.awardspring.com.

Free supplies at Back to School Festival

The Shelton School District invites families to the Back to School Festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Oakland Bay Junior High School, 3301 N. Shelton Springs Road.

Free supplies that will be given while supplies last include backpacks with items inside, a hot dog lunch and other resources. To receive a free haircut, contact your school liaison to set up an appointment.

During the hours of the festival, Mason Health offers vaccinations for students at 1701 N. 13th St. Register at 360-426-2653.

Shelton student making the grades at Eastern Oregon

Brandon Searles of Shelton earned a spot on the dean's list for the spring term at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.

To be eligible, a student must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher while competing at least 12 graded course hours.