The Highline School Board is expected to approve Wednesday, Aug. 24, a $188 million operating budget for the 2011-2012 school year.

About 45 percent of the general fund budget will go for teacher salaries and benefits, according to assistant superintendent of finance Susan Smith Leland. "Basic education" accounts for about $129 million of the $188 million.

For the coming school year, the state Legislature cut the allocation for teacher pay by 1.9 percent.

Highline teachers are making up for the cut by taking 1.5 furlough days. They will miss one professional development day at the start of the school year before students begin attending classes. The teachers will also forgo three afternoons of professional development on early dismissal Fridays.

The furlough days will not affect any student instruction time.

Administrators are also taking two furlough days to make up for a 3 percent cut from the Legislature in the state allocation for administrator and classified staff salaries.

In forming the budget, Highline staffers faced a $4 million shortfall between expected revenue and expected expenditures.

Superintendent John Welch recommended $2 million in cuts in May. These included moving to a six-period day at Highline High, eliminating the first-grade gifted program, cutting two management positions and reducing five classified positions.

Legislators delayed approving a state budget, thus hindering the budget process for Highline.

"It was quite a year in so many ways," Leland declared at the Aug. 10 public budget hearing. "The Legislature left us with quite a task to do and not much time to do it."

Leland said enrollment is expected to increase slightly. The "headcount" is estimated at 18,247 students with a "full-time equivalent" of 17,639 students.

While the district will receive $43.8 million in levy collections-- an increase, it will see reduced state and federal revenues including federal stimulus money, Leland noted.

On Aug. 10, board members increased the expenditure allocation for the 2010-2011 budget by $3 million.