$4.4 million.

That’s the difference between the cuts made to this and last year’s Renton School District budget. Last year’s cuts totaled $5.2 million. This year’s cuts are about $800,000.

This year’s nearly $130 million budget was approved by Renton School Board at its Aug. 27 meeting.

“We’re happy to be able to present a balanced budget and keep all our teaching positions,” district spokesperson Randy Matheson said.

This year’s budget cuts are much less than the $3 million predicted in January. Matheson said that’s because school funding is always a “moving target.”

Sixty-eight percent of Renton’s funding this year is from the state, 21 percent local and 11 percent federal.

Most — about 90 percent — of that local funding is made up of funds expected this school year from the Education Maintenance and Operations (M & O) Replacement Levy. Part of that money is collected in fall, and the rest, from the levy passed by voters in March, is collected in the spring.

The district asks voters to approve the replacement levy every four years. The taxes pay for basic costs like teacher salaries, transportation, curriculum and books.

The roughly $23.2 million in this year’s levy money helps prevent a repeat of last year’s deep budget cuts. Last year’s losses included 13 jobs, cuts to English Language Learners (ELL) and special-education programs and the elimination of Renton Alternative Middle School and the Salmon in the Classroom program. The district also reduced funding of IKEA Performing Arts Center last year.

“We’re just really fortunate to be able to pass this levy,” said Rich Moore, assistant superintendent for business and operations. “It’s really helped the district not have dramatic budget cuts like (those) surrounding districts are having.”

Those surrounding districts include Bellevue, which has striking teachers and nearly $5 million worth of budget cuts.

Moore said the levy will provide about $3 million more than last school year.

A technology levy, also passed by voters in March, is helping the district by paying for new equipment and upgrades to existing equipment.

A 50-cent increase in the price of school lunches is also contributing to district savings. Moore said this is the first time in several years that the price of school lunches has increased.

Despite the savings and minimal budget cuts, cuts mean cuts, and this year’s cuts do affect district employees and programs.

Two people are losing their jobs in the district’s support programs (warehousing and maintenance). Moore said the jobs were lost as a result of the district’s continued reorganization of the warehousing operation. Instead of delivering products in bulk to the district warehouse for distribution, the district is increasingly delivering products to each school. Matheson said the district will try to find new jobs for the two former support workers.

The district is also reducing funding of its ELL and special education programs — ELL by $200,000 and special education by $50,000.

Moore said the $200,000 reduction in the ELL program is equivalent to roughly 60 hours of reduced teaching time. No ELL teachers will lose their jobs, Moore said, but some will work fewer hours. Some ELL jobs were simply not filled this year, Moore added.

He said the funding reduction is due to a changing ELL model in which students receive more in-class and less pull-out instruction.

Even with the reduction, Moore said the district is still providing almost $700,000 more funding than the state.

Moore describes the $50,000 decrease in district special-education funding as “more of a cost shift.” He said federal dollars increased slightly this year, replacing district dollars.

Moore said the rest of this year’s $800,000 in cuts, like every year, is made up of a “lot of minor adjustments.”

Although this year’s budget cuts are less than last year, the total budget of nearly $130 million is more than last year’s nearly $122 million.

Most of this year’s budget — 83 percent — goes toward teacher salaries. Teachers in all Washington school districts received a salary increase of at least 4.4 percent, and most teachers, including those in Renton, received a 5.1-percent salary increase. Support employees also received a 4.4-percent increase.

Renton School District has to pick up these salary increases for about 200 employees — 100 teachers and 100 support staff. The state does not pay the salaries for these 200 employees.

Renton School District is employing about 1,300 staff this year. Joining the district this fall are more than 110 new teachers, 11 new principals and assistant principals and other administrators. About 13,500 students are expected this year, up from last May’s 13,336.

The district expects a $2.4-million fund balance from last school year and a $3.1 million fund balance from this school year. The fund balance is an emergency fund. Moore said the district’s goal is to get the fund balance at about 4 percent. It is now slightly above 2 percent.

Creating the district’s budget is a year-round process. Work on the budget for the 2009-10 school year begins in October.

Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@rentonreporter.com or 425-255-3484, ext. 5052.