It’s official: the Orcas School 2009-10 budget has been given a stamp of approval by the school board.

Faced with a significant cut in the state’s I-728 funding and a decrease in local tax revenue and donations, the school board has been toiling away at filling a $410,000 shortfall.

After several months of budget work sessions and serious number crunching, the school is moving ahead with a budget that starts the year off with a full middle and high school schedule. The eight teaching positions that were slated to be eliminated have been reinstated for the time being. The board will be faced with cutting programs later if enrollment numbers aren’t high enough to help fill the financial hole. School administrators are hopeful that the enrollment numbers will be higher than the “conservative” estimate of 440.

The board also voted to raise sports participation fees by 20 percent, with a cap for families who meet a certain dollar amount.

The community has been generous in helping the district meet the shortfall; to date, $155,000 has been donated.

The board also voted to join representatives from the Seattle, Bellevue, and Spokane school districts (among others) for a lobbying session in October. Their goal is to secure more funding from the state.

During its meeting last week, Bob MacKenzie of Plan Operations and Support Consortium, which is part of the state’s General Administration Department and Washington State University’s Energy Department, gave the board a report on his recent inspection of Orcas School.

Superintendent Barbara Kline commissioned the assessment to qualify for state grant monies to make “green” improvements like installing solar and wind energy systems, and as part of the school’s architectural survey for its bond. The school is currently advertising for an architect to draw up schematics for the bond that will go before voters in February.

“We applaud Orcas School in joining our merry family,” MacKenzie said. “This could be a really good opportunity for the school. And working with you folks has been a joy.”

Some of the highlights of MacKenzie’s facility assessment: the plumbing is shot in the elementary school, the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system throughout the school needs to be updated, the middle school is in “pretty bad shape” overall, and while the high school has not outlived its life, the building needs a tune-up.

“The school is fixable and sound, but it needs to be retro-commissioned,” he said.

Another team from the consortium will work with the school’s custodial staff to lessen their use of chemicals.

The board was impressed with MacKenzie’s findings, and the opportunity for grant money.

“This service is worth every penny,” board member Tony Ghazel said.

The next school board meeting is on Thursday, August 20, 5:30 p.m. in the school library.