Kent School District leaders will need to cut about $8 million from the 2025-2026 budget due to a declining enrollment, which means less money from the state, and the loss of federal funds.

Superintendent Israel Vela shared the latest budget numbers in an Oct. 17 email to district families after an Oct. 15 retreat with staff and Kent School Board members.

“Our 2025–26 budget was developed with the assumption that enrollment and federal funding would remain stable,” Vela said in the email. “Unfortunately, neither of these assumptions held true.”

When the board adopted the budget in June, district staff projected enrollment to remain flat at 24,222 students, actually an increase of about 320 students from the 2024-2025 school year, according to district documents. The Oct. 1 count shows a

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