EPHRATA – The Ephrata School District Board of Directors unanimously passed the district's 2025-26 budget at its regular school board meeting Monday.  

“The process of developing a quality budget that's fiscally responsible, but also responsive to the needs of your staff and your students, is always incredibly challenging, but I feel very blessed to be in a position where we truly believe we're going to be able to do those things again,” Superintendent Ken Murray said.  

The Ephrata School District has five funds, including the General, Capital Projects, Debt Service, Associated Student Body and Transportation Vehicle. Funds are received primarily from the state of Washington and are based on the number of students the district has. Additional funding comes from the local education levy, with matching funds for local effort assistance from the state. A smaller portion comes from the federal government. 

The general fund is where the district keeps the majority of its funds. This money is used for district operations, including instructional programs, food services, maintenance and student transportation. The General Fund has a starting balance of $9 million for the year and anticipates about $51.3 million in revenues during the year. Of the resulting $60.3 million, the district expects to spend about $53.2 million, with about $6.5 million left at the end of the year.   

“We try to conservatively estimate our revenues and more aggressively estimate our expenditures,” Murray said. “One way that we do that is we want to try to make sure we're prepared for any unpredicted (decrease) in enrollment. We do a very thorough process of anticipating next year's enrollment by doing some historical enrollment analysis, looking at our current students as they transition through our system. However, there are times when things happen that you cannot predict.” 

The Capital Projects fund supports the acquisition of property or major building projects. The Capital Projects fund will carry around $2.7 million into the 2025-26 school year, with about $1.4 million coming in during the year for a total of about $4.1 million. Of that, $2.2 million will go toward purchasing property and $1.9 million toward building upgrades or repairs. 

The debt service fund provides for the redemption and payment of interest on bonds. The beginning balance is around $1.6 million, with $2.3 million in revenue expected. The district expects to spend the revenue and carry over the $1.6 million remainder.  

The ASB fund is managed by students within the district. The revenues and expenditures are set by the student body and approved by the board. The beginning balance of the fund is about $418,000. The anticipated revenues are about $1.3 million, and the expenditure is almost $1.2 million. The ending balance will be around $565,000.  

The transportation vehicle fund money is used for the purchase of transportation or repairing equipment and buses. The fund is financed by state reimbursements to school districts for depreciation of approved student transportation. The starting balance of this account is nearly $1.1 million. The district is anticipating around $633,000 in revenues and around $1.7 million in expenditures.  

Revenues 

Following the voter-approved 4-year Educational Programs and Operations Levy in February 2021, which will see collections rise from about $1.9 million in 2022 to an anticipated $2.2 million by 2025, the district is poised to enhance its educational services. 

Murray emphasized the significance of these funds, noting that the EP&O levy helps cover enrichment expenses in the General Fund, including extracurricular activities, professional development for staff, and necessary safety and security measures. The funds also address Component Maintenance and Operations Costs and extend beyond the limitations of state allocations. 

“We feel pretty fortunate regarding the way our budget is currently positioned in the Ephrata School District,” Murray said. “This levy provides resources that directly enhance our students' educational journeys.” 

Nearly 83% of the district's total revenue — approximately $42.6 million — comes from state resources, primarily driven by student enrollment.  

Local tax sources, including the recent EP&O levy, contribute approximately $2.5 million, or 4.80% of total revenues. Looking ahead, voters approved collections of $2.7 million for 2026.  

Federal revenues, totaling nearly $4 million or 7.87% of district revenues, have played a crucial role in budget stabilization.  

Murray said the release of federal funds that had previously been on hold helped the district.  

“Those federal funds being released is what puts us in a situation where we feel like we're financially stable,” Murray said. “Without those funds, it wouldn’t look quite as positive as it does right now.” 

Rounding out the district’s finances, local non-tax revenues account for about $2.2 million or 4.32% of the budget, supporting additional programming and enriching student experiences.  

Expenditures  

The district expects nearly $35.3 million, or 66.38% of its total budget, will be dedicated to teaching and teaching support for 2025-26. This allocation funds essential resources, including teacher salaries, instructional assistants, teaching supplies, special education services and health services for students. 

In addition, $8.6 million, about 16.1% of the budget, will be invested in maintenance of school facilities, utilities, student transportation and food services.  

The district has allocated approximately $2.7 million, or 5.10%, to administration. This includes compensation for principals, assistant principals and clerical staff. 

About $6.6 million, 12.45% of the budget, will support central administration at the district office. 

Clarification: Murray's comments above regarding unpredictable student enrollment changes has been adjusted. He misspoke during our interview with him.