Urgent Action Alert - BSD Funding
January 18, 2024 - SB 5956 Would Bring in $10M Annually
SB 5956 Would Bring in $10M to BSD Annually
Superintendent, Dr. Kelly Aramaki Supports Senate Bill 5956 for School Funding
On Monday January 15, 2024 Dr. Aramaki was in Olympia testifying in support of Senate Bill 5956. Currently there is no adjustment to the local levy cap for the higher cost of living and wages in high cost areas. The State does provide an adjustment on state funds but caps local funds with no regionalization factor. This prevents BSD from collecting all of the funds already approved by local voters. BSD is left with budget short falls and no way to address the issue locally without action by the state.
Please Say Thank You to Senators Wellman and Kuderer for Sponsoring SB 5956
The local enrichment levy provides both the enrichment and critical supports that are needed by kids right now in order to thrive. The enrichment levy funds things like:
- Robotics and other clubs and activities
- Computer science teachers that bring STEM learning to students in our Title 1 elementary schools
- Mental health supports (MHAT) that are critical to kids particularly coming out of the pandemic
- Special education supports for students that have disabilities
- Access to electives during the school day like robotics, art, theater, music
Our district is facing massive budget cuts that threaten these enrichment opportunities and needed supports. Three districts are currently in budget insolvency. More are a year or two out from insolvency. And even more are on their way to insolvency if something isn’t done.
- In Bellevue, last year we had to close two schools.
- This year, we are facing a $10M deficit. $15M the next year and then another $15M the following.
- We need the legislature to step in and bring districts back from the ledge. Budget cuts of $45M over three years will be detrimental to the Bellevue School District.
- For districts like Bellevue, there’s something the legislature can do right now with no impact to their budget: fix the mistake of not including regionalization in the local enrichment levy allowable collection. Adding regionalization to what local communities can collect in their local enrichment levy will help us address cost-of-living in what we pay for out of levy dollars.
SB 5956 would bring in $10M to Bellevue annually, which is about the same amount as our next year’s deficit, and close to what our deficit is the following two years.
Bellevue PTSA Council 2024 Legislative Issue - Local Enrichment Levy - Regionalization Factor - adopted by council 1/8/2024
The regionalization factor used on state apportionment is not applied to local levies, which diminishes the purchasing power of levy dollars. We are asking the legislature to apply the regionalization factor to the local enrichment levy allowable collections so that local levy dollars have the same buying power as funds received from the state.
The state recognizes the higher cost of living in some areas of our state by applying a regionalization factor to staff salaries in the appropriation model. This increase in funding is passed on to staff in the form of higher salaries. Districts use enrichment levies to hire additional staff who are on the same salary schedules as staff funded by state appropriations. Current levy rules do not recognize the varying costs of living in different areas of the state because regionalization factors are not applied. Without the regionalization factor being applied, districts with higher costs of living and higher employee salaries, have less purchasing power with their levy dollars than other districts resulting in inequitable local levy funding. This solution has no impact on the state budget.
Additionally, for districts that do not have the same ability to leverage additional local levy dollars, we support an equitable update to the Local Effort Assistance (LEA) formula by increasing the maximum per pupil limit to match the impact of local levy regionalization for districts like Bellevue or at least to return to LEA spending levels from 2018.