From left to right, Vancouver Public Schools Superintendent Rocky Torres-Morales, Board President Wendy Smith and Vice President Tracie Barrows during a VPS board of directors meeting on Aug. 18, 2026.
Erik Neumann / OPB
The Vancouver Public Schools Board of Directors voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept increased financial oversight from the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It’s the latest example of financial strains in the Southwest Washington school district, where administrators are attempting to carve a path to solvency over the next year.
“The move that we’re taking now is the board recognizing that this is coming, therefore we can also start getting some of the support from OSPI earlier,” VPS Superintendent Rocky Torres-Morales said at the school board meeting.
The board agreed to be placed under “binding conditions,” which involve monitoring and guidance from the state as the district works to improve its financial picture.
The Southwest Washington school district is far from the only one in the state facing simultaneous challenges of declining enrollment, increasing costs and decreasing funding.
Seven other school districts around Washington are also under binding conditions with the state.
It’s a number that OSPI Chief Financial Officer T.J. Kelly called “unprecedented” during an Aug. 11 presentation to the VPS board.
“If you were to have told me 10 years ago that we’d have close to 10 districts on binding conditions at the same time, I would have said ‘There’s no way,’” he said.
VPS has an approximately $2.25 million deficit from the 2025-26 school year. That’s after making staff cuts earlier this year to close a $24 million hole in its budget. Administrators ultimately cut 35 staff and left another 72 positions unfilled.
Vancouver Public Schools Robert C. Bates Center for Educational Leadership on Aug. 18, 2026.
Erik Neumann / OPB
The district also took out monthly loans from the Clark County Treasurer’s office totaling approximately $79 million over the past year to cover basic costs. All but about $9 million has been repaid, according to the county, with the remainder set to be paid at the end of this month.
“We have seen districts in much worse off conditions in recent years,” Kelly said in an interview when asked about VPS.
Districts can be put under binding conditions for up to two years. It allows them to make their own plans to maintain financial stability. In addition to increased data sharing and check-ins between the district and state, the process means VPS can borrow against its own future per-student funding from the state.
Torres-Morales said the district must now think about how to balance providing high-quality services while also building up its general fund balance — akin to a savings account — from around $4.5 million to a goal of $21 million. He warned that future staffing reductions could be part of that process.
“You never say never, so you don’t know,” Torres-Morales said. “But we do know that austerity measures will be a thing.”
If the district is unsuccessful at improving its finances, the state can apply more hands-on oversight.
The VPS board vote comes just days before the start of the 2026-27 school year on Aug. 25. The district serves just over 20,000 K-12 students across 44 schools.
The board also approved the 2026-27 budget Tuesday night, which Torres-Morales said showed the district will have a positive fund balance in the future.
