Opinion ID: 2629550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Current Allocations[7]

Text: ¶ 10 Currently, average base salary amounts used in funding formulas are contained in LEAP 2. In 2007, the legislature determined allocations for certificated administrative and classified staff by multiplying the average number of full-time students in each school district by prescribed staff to student ratios, then multiplying the result by the average salary figure listed for each district in LEAP 2. See Laws of 2007, ch. 522, § 503(1)(a) (uncodified appropriations bill) (incorporating LEAP 2 by reference); RCW 28A.150.410. Allocations for teacher salaries are calculated the same way, but each district's average base salary figure is modified by factoring in a staff mix factor that adds funding based on higher levels of teacher experience and education. [8] ¶ 11 In the 2007 biennial budget, some school districts that historically paid higher salaries continued to receive allocations based on higher staff unit salary figures than Federal Way School District. [9] No single district received the highest staff unit allocation salary figures in all three categories of staff. [10] Out of 295 districts, 64 districts, including Federal Way School District, received allocations based on the lowest staff unit salary figures on LEAP 2 in all three staff categories. ¶ 12 The greatest disparity among school districts is in the salary figures for administrators. For the 2008-09 school year, four districts received funds calculated using the highest average base salary figure of $84,362, while Federal Way School District and 88 other districts received $57,986  a 45 percent gap. [11] For classified staff, the Seattle School District average base salary was $36,777, while for Federal Way School District and 224 other districts, the average base salary was $31,865  a 15 percent gap. ¶ 13 For teachers, Federal Way School District and 282 other districts' funding was calculated using the teacher average base salary figure of $33,898. Only 12 districts' funding was based on higher numbers up to $35,581. This is a 4.9 percent gap statewide. LEAP 2, CP at 266-73. Federal Way School District argues that in the 2006-07 school year, it would have received an additional $7.1 million in basic education funding if its allocation had been calculated using the highest salary figures on LEAP 2. CP at 112.