Kent School District administrators are considering ways to shave $2.8 million off next year’s district budget in the face of increased financial challenges during the 2008-09 school year.

Skyrocketing costs of transportation, food and utilities are part of the reason for the financial predicament, according to district officials. Superintendent Barbara Grohe said citizens can relate.

“Just about everything that’s affecting one’s budget at home right now affects our budget,” she said.

She added the district feels it on a larger scale through buying fuel for more than 130 buses, feeding about 27,000 students and heating and cooling dozens of buildings.

Those costs, along with state-mandated salary and benefit increases for district employees and increasing costs of mandated programs like special education, all add up. State funding boosts aren’t enough to cover all of it, said Fred High, assistant superintendent for business services.

“We get an increase in funds from the state, but it’s not enough to do both salary increases and cover things like increased transportation costs,” High said. “And you’ve got to do the salary increases first.”

The state expects that school districts subsidize additional costs with local tax dollars, and an increase in levy funds is included in next year’s budget. But every dollar of that increase will go toward employees’ pay raises, according to High.

Money to cover other climbing costs will have to come from somewhere else, and the district is searching for ways to scrimp and save without affecting instructional programs.

Grohe said she expects conservation of utilities to be one action the district takes next year to cut costs.

“We’re going to have to change our lifestyle,” she said. “Right now, our buildings are widely used, but that may become different in the future.”

Grohe said the district may be able to save around $500,000 by regulating when buildings can be used outside of regular school hours and restricting times and temperatures of climate-control systems.

The transportation department will reassess bus routes, making sure no drop of fuel is being wasted, and the district will look at ways to save on equipment, materials and supplies next year, officials said. A 20 percent expense-budget cut for employees across the district is also being considered, meaning teachers will have to plan class trips and special events more frugally.

The savings effort already has begun, Grohe said. Central and support services at the administration center have been asked to attempt a 5 percent expense reduction in order to generate savings to carry over for next year.

Grohe said the situation is challenging, but it could be much worse. Budget deficits in school districts are being predicted all over the state, with some districts smaller than Kent’s planning even larger budget cuts.

“We’ve been extraordinarily frugal over the years to make sure our cuts wouldn’t have to be as deep,” Grohe said. “If you look around us and see what other districts are having to cut, one could say we’re still in pretty good shape.”

The superintendent, who recently announced her retirement effective at the end of next school year, remains positive about the Kent district’s past and future success.

“The focus is still on student achievement, and our kids are doing very well,” she said.

Grohe said building projects like the new Panther Lake Elementary School, and new programs such as the district’s One-to-One laptop computer initiative and technology academies, are safe from cuts. They are funded by levies passed specifically for those purposes.

Tight-budget issues won’t end with the coming school year, High predicted. He expects 2009-10 to bring even greater challenges. The state places a cap on the amount of tax dollars schools can use, and that amount will be reached with next year’s levy increase.

“There aren’t a lot of alternatives available to school districts,” he said.