Lake Stevens School District 4Budget & Spending
Lake Stevens, Snohomish County, Washington NCES 5304200
- Total revenue · FY2024
- $191M $191,039,000
- Students enrolled
- 9,788
- Revenue per pupil
- $19,518
- Local share per pupil
- $4,908 59th percentile in WA
Transparency grade C, provisional
Under reviewProvisional grade
Every district starts at a provisional C until its records have been reviewed. This is a starting point, not a finding.
If you work for this district, you can shorten the wait by sending us links to the records you already publish.
NCES F-33 · FY2024
Where the money goes
Operating and capital spending from the federal expenditure survey, rolled up by function.
Aggregate categories only: no individual payees or contracts are shown.
- Instruction
- $101M 60.4% of spending
- Administration
- $8.1M 4.8% of spending
- Per pupil
- $17,115 All functions
- Instruction 60.4%
- Student Support Services 8.5%
- Student Transportation 7.4%
- Business & Central Services 5.2%
- Operations & Maintenance 4.9%
- General Administration 4.2%
- Instructional Staff Support 3.5%
- Food Services 2.8%
- Capital Outlay 2.0%
- School Administration 0.6%
- Other Programs 0.5%
View the numbers as a table
| Function | Amount | Per pupil | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instruction | $101,147,000 | $10,334 | 60.4% |
| Student Support Services | $14,165,000 | $1,447 | 8.5% |
| Student Transportation | $12,431,000 | $1,270 | 7.4% |
| Business & Central Services | $8,794,000 | $898 | 5.2% |
| Operations & Maintenance | $8,204,000 | $838 | 4.9% |
| General Administration | $7,110,000 | $726 | 4.2% |
| Instructional Staff Support | $5,808,000 | $593 | 3.5% |
| Food Services | $4,697,000 | $480 | 2.8% |
| Capital Outlay | $3,311,000 | $338 | 2.0% |
| School Administration | $981,000 | $100 | 0.6% |
| Other Programs | $877,000 | $90 | 0.5% |
| Total | $167,525,000 | $17,115 | 100% |
NCES F-33 · FY2005–FY2024
How this has changed
Summary Four points on FY2005 to FY2024
- Operating balance and scale In FY2024 the district reported $191M in revenue against $164M in current operating spending. It took in $26.8M more than it spent on operations, a margin of 14.0% of revenue. This compares revenue with operating cost only; it is not a fund balance and not an audited result.
- Inflation and real growth Consumer prices rose +60.6% between FY2005 and FY2024. Revenue rose +241.2% and operating spending +226.0% in nominal terms. Revenue outgrew inflation, gaining +112.4% in purchasing power. Operating spending outgrew inflation, gaining +103.0% in purchasing power.
- Enrollment and per-pupil cost Enrollment rose by 2,172 students, +28.5%. Operating spending per student went from $6,614 to $16,777, +153.7% nominal and +57.9% after inflation.
- Structural takeaway Revenue grew faster than operating spending, by 15.2 percentage points over the period, and real cost per student rose alongside enrollment. These figures describe cost, not performance: the F-33 does not say what a district was funded to do, and this site scores what a district publishes rather than how it spends.
Generated from the figures in the table below, not written by hand and not written by a model. Change the years and it recalculates.
| Measure | FY2005 | FY2024 | Change | Nominal % | Real % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $55,985,000 | $191,039,000 | +$135,054,000 | +241.2% | +112.4% |
| Total expenditure | $56,389,000 | $175,606,000 | +$119,217,000 | +211.4% | +93.9% |
| Revenue per pupil | $7,351 | $19,518 | +$12,167 | +165.5% | +65.3% |
| Students enrolled | 7,616 | 9,788 | +2,172 | +28.5% | — |
Percent change from each measure's FY2005 level. Dollar figures are nominal as filed; the real column removes inflation using CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, annual average (BLS). The dashed line is that same inflation curve, so a dollar line above it gained purchasing power and one below it lost. It does not apply to enrollment. Hover any point for the underlying number.
100-point rubric
What Lake Stevens School District 4 needs for an A
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Public check register
14 ptsEvery disbursement published with payee category, date, amount, and fund, updated at least quarterly.
A check register records where money actually went, rather than where it was budgeted to go.
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Annual financial audit
6 ptsA current Annual Comprehensive Financial Report with the independent auditor opinion attached.
A financial audit confirms the statements are accurately presented. Most states require one, so it is a floor rather than a distinction.
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Performance or efficiency audit
5 ptsAn independent review of whether spending achieved its stated purpose, published within the last three years.
A financial audit asks whether the numbers are right. A performance audit asks whether the money did what it was meant to do, which is the question a taxpayer is usually asking.
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Line-item adopted budget
11 ptsThe adopted budget broken out by function and object code, not a summary presentation.
Function and object detail is what allows classroom and central office spending to be compared.
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Purchasing card transactions
9 ptsPurchasing and credit card transaction detail with merchant category, date, and amount.
Card purchases sit outside the standard purchase-order process, so separate disclosure is what makes them reviewable.
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Payment history by category
9 ptsCumulative payments grouped by spending category, covering at least one full fiscal year.
Category totals show concentration and recurring commitments that individual payments do not.
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Machine-readable data
9 ptsFinancial data offered as CSV, XLSX, JSON, or an open API rather than scanned images.
A scanned PDF is technically public and practically difficult to analyse. Open formats make review possible.
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Compensation schedule
7 ptsCurrent salary schedules and aggregate administrator compensation bands, including stipends.
Payroll is the largest line in most district budgets, so schedule-level disclosure covers the bulk of spending.
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Bond and capital disclosure
7 ptsBond program spending reported against the specific projects voters approved, with remaining balances.
Bond funds are borrowed against future taxes and authorised for a named project list, so reporting against that list closes the loop.
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Board minutes and agendas
7 ptsMinutes and agenda packets posted together with the financial exhibits that were voted on.
The vote and its attachment are what connect a decision to the money it moved.
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Contracts posted
6 ptsExecuted contracts and amendments above the district bid threshold, posted in full.
A payment shows the amount. The contract shows what was promised in return.
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Direct download, no request
6 ptsCore financial records download directly, with no records request, login, or fee.
Publishing a record and releasing it on request are different levels of disclosure.
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Published records process
4 ptsA public records page naming the responsible officer, the statutory timeline, and any fees.
A documented process tells a requester what to expect before they file.
No items have been checked yet. These fill in as each record is located and verified.