A new state law could accelerate the Bainbridge Island School District’s financial recovery, but it will be up to the voters.

The BISD school board unanimously approved to put a three-year, $4.6 million supplemental enrichment levy on the November general election ballot at its meeting July 31.

During the 2024-25 legislative session, the state lifted the lid on the maximum amount of funding districts can collect through levies — raising it up to $3.00 per $1,000 assessed property value, or up to $3,000 per student. As a property-rich school district, that means with its existing levy, BISD is able to collect an additional $629,000 in 2026, but that still only puts the district barely above a 1% fund balance.

After a year and a half of extreme budget rehabilitation, BISD currently has a positive fund balance of just under $1 million, district financial director Kim Knight said.

“We are hopeful that we might actually approach $1 million. That’s because we lived within the means of the budget that we set for ourselves last October,” said Knight. “The bad news is, it’s the equivalent of a 1.4% fund balance, and that is obviously well below our board policy of 5% — and it does translate to approximately five and a half days cash on hand, so not ample or sufficient at this time.”

However, if voters approve the supplemental levy, it would catapult the district into a much more stable fiscal future, explained Knight. By the end of the 2028-29 school year, BISD could see a 9% fund balance, or about 35 days of cash on hand.

“It does provide an avenue for us to reestablish a sufficient fund balance, such that we don’t have to continue to rely on reductions; that we would be able to take a comprehensive look at what we want to reestablish, reimagine and move forward as a district,” Knight said.

Former school board president Mark Emerson, speaking on behalf of BI Public School Supporters, spoke firmly in favor of the levy.

“The reserve fund has to be replenished one way or another. The current path is to hobble along over the next many years, putting funds back into reserve at the expense of student curriculum and support,” said Emerson. “This supplemental levy will move us further along this painful process and allow us to have better conversations about supporting today’s and tomorrow’s students, all within our budget. This will be a hard conversation; the economy is muddling along, and many folks are struggling while others are tightening their belt. But this levy is an investment in our students, and one that we need to have.”

Toby Tobler, an education finance law consultant, added that while state law dictates that school districts in Washington state may only run a single enrichment levy at a time, a statewide lid-lift is the single exception to the rule. Bainbridge voters have a historically high levy approval rate, but given the events of the last year and a half, it’s difficult to predict how voters will react.

“Trust is an issue; why should the community give the district these funds with the recent financial difficulties? My answer is that superintendent Thompson and the school board promised no school closures and a balanced budget moving forward. They have delivered on this promise, and I believe that they will continue to honor this promise as well,” said Emerson.