Mount Baker Monthly Update

Hello Mount Baker Families,

I hope this monthly update finds you well as we transition into the chillier days of late fall. This week marks the end of our first trimester, meaning we are already 33% through the school year. As many of us spend the coming weeks reflecting on gratitude and thankfulness, I want to take a moment to share my appreciation.

I am incredibly thankful for the dedicated staff of the Mount Baker School District, who work tirelessly to create a safe and supportive learning environment that fosters individual growth and success. I am also deeply grateful for our students and their families, who are invaluable partners in each educational journey.

This is also a great time to inform everyone about the Winter Pantry Program. Facilitated by the Foothills Food Bank, this program offers families access to breakfast and lunch foods that children can easily prepare at home during winter break. Families of students at all Mount Baker schools are welcome to sign up. Please visit our website for the sign-up link or contact the Family Services Coordinator at your school. The deadline to sign up is Thursday, December 5th.

For those who register, a box of nutritious breakfast and lunch foods will be delivered to participating families on Friday, December 20th, by Foothills Food Bank representatives and volunteers. You do not need to be home to accept the delivery.

Sincerely,
Nick Perigo
Interim Superintendent

National School Psychology Week

November 11 through 15 was National School Psychology Week. We would like to take a moment to acknowledge the outstanding work of Mount Baker's school psychology team, Brittany Myers and Michael Walton.

Celebrating Our Veterans

Earlier this month, each of our schools held assemblies to celebrate the commitment, dedication, and sacrifice of the men and women who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. These events provide a wonderful opportunity to honor our servicemembers while also fostering a sense of community. The pictures below are from the Acme and JH/HS assemblies.

This section of the monthly update highlights many of the great co-curricular activities going on around the Mount Baker School District.

• Ayla Borden
• Dylan Kalsbeek
• Raelynn Woodin

There is a lot to unpack with the end-of-the-year report, so let me begin by suggesting that if you would like all of the details, please view the video of the October 24th Board Meeting or view the slides from the presentation here.

Many of you know that the district was budgeted to end the year with a negative fund balance, anticipated needing a loan and was placed in Binding Conditions by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Through reducing our expenditures and looking for other revenue sources, we were able to end the year with a positive fund balance of $944,288. See the figure below to compare the projection (yellow) to the actual fund balance (orange):

While this is great news we still have work to do. For the 24-25 school year the board authorized a reduction to the educational program and passed a balanced budget. In order to be financially responsible and get through the school year without special funding, we will now need to rebuild our fund balance. To get out of our binding conditions, we need to have approximately $1,320,000 in the bank. To meet board policy, we need approximately $1,650,000. To meet school district best practice, we should have $2,800,000 (this would be a long-term goal)

We have fixed the problem with the operating budget, and have a loan from our Capital Projects Fund to the General Fund to get us through this year. We now have to rebuild the fund balance before rebuilding our programs. The good news is that we are starting from a much better place than was predicted.

• Friday, November 22: Staff non-contract day, no school
• Wednesday, November 27: Typical late arrival schedule (JH/HS dismiss at 2:30, elementary at 3:30).
• Thursday, November 28: No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
• Friday, November 29: No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
• December 11-13, No pre-school (pre-school conferences)
• December 12: School Board Meeting at 6:00pm
• Sunday, December 15: Kendall PTA hosts pop-up Santa photos @ Peaceful Valley HOA Clubhouse from 1:00p to 5:00p.
• December 23-January 3: No School, winter break (school resumes, Monday, January 6)
• All athletic schedules can be found on GoBakerAthletics.com.