Blaine hosts town hall on school funding shortfalls

Students, staff and community members from Blaine, Mt. Baker and Ferndale school districts asked legislators to fix the state’s K-12 funding model during a town hall meeting at Blaine Middle School on January 7.

A crowd of a few hundred packed into the Performing Arts Center to hear first-hand accounts of how budget restraints have worsened education for students, decreased working conditions for teachers and staff, and created tension among the community.

The town hall was organized by Fund Schools Now, a grassroots advocacy organization that Blaine parents created after two consecutive years of budget cuts caused dozens of teachers and staff to lose jobs and numerous programs ended.

State senator Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham) and state representatives Alicia Rule (D-Blaine) and Joe Timmons (D-Bellingham) listened to students and staff tell stories of libraries without full-time librarians, role model teachers being cut due to budget restraints, electives and activities taken away, and the strain of underfunding landing on districts, teachers and parents forced to make up for the gaps.

School funding problems aren’t just a local problem, and state legislators are being asked to act during this year’s legislative session in Olympia.

The state budget hit a high-water mark for education funding as a percentage of the entire budget in 2019, when 52.4 percent of state funding went toward K-12 education. In 2024, that figure was down to 43.1 percent, despite more money going toward schools than before.

The Blaine school district highlighted three main areas where state funding is not meeting the growing demands: special education; materials, supplies and operating costs (MSOC); and transportation.

Since 2020, actual costs for special education exceeded state funds by $7.14 million, MSOC exceeded state funds by $16 million, and transportation costs exceeded state funds by $1.1 million. All told, funding gaps not covered by the state have equaled $24.2 million since 2020.

Don Leu, a former Blaine school board member, longtime educator and moderator of the town hall, said after the McCleary decision, new state law considered Blaine a “property rich” district. This has put Blaine in a tough position by capping how much local property tax it can collect, and the state is not making up the difference. That cap, combined with a drop in enrollment, means the district has lost $3 million in local levy funds it couldn’t collect.

“Blaine, unfortunately, is in a bit of a pinch here,” Leu said. “Students have high needs and lower resources.”

On January 8, a group of seven Whatcom county public school superintendents published an open letter asking for additional state funding, citing growing gaps, a need for continued pandemic recovery funds that have recently dried up, and an increase in inflation and MSOC.

According to the Washington Association of School Administrators, the costs to keep a school district functioning have increased dramatically in recent years. Expenses like diesel fuel for busses, insurance rates and premiums, electricity and other utility costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic, and the state continues to not foot the bill.

In Blaine, MSOC hit a high of $7.3 million in 2023, while state funding has hovered around $2.6 million since 2020. The district has had to cover the remainder.

Jodi Greene, a nurse at the Blaine school district, spoke to the town hall about how budget cuts have made her job providing health care services to over 2,000 students harder, while the state only pays for half of the daily cost of nurses.

“It’s an uphill battle to meet the needs of students’ health and safety in the school environment,” Greene said. “These needs will only continue to grow if school districts do not receive adequate financial support from our state.”

Shawna Rouse, a math teacher at Blaine High School, spoke about how the school’s intensified math curriculum improved test scores before it was curtailed due to budget shortfalls.

“The past two years have been some of the most challenging I have ever seen,” Rouse said. “Budget cuts have affected every teacher, every program and every student in our district. We’ve lost talented staff, vital programs and critical resources.”

Ruby Belarmino, an eighth grader at Blaine Middle School, said she had always wanted to learn Spanish, but didn’t have the option as Blaine doesn’t have a middle school language curriculum. She’s learning Spanish using the Duolingo app to prepare for high school.

These stories were shared with the state legislators, who seemed eager, but cautiously optimistic, about attempting to fundamentally change how the state funds K-12 education in the upcoming legislative session.

Representative Rule, who has children attending Blaine school district, said the group of legislators at the town hall were ready to get to work on solving the funding problem.

“We're in. We’re so in,” Rule said, speaking on behalf of the other two legislators. “As a mother of this community, I see you. This is us.”

Senator Shewmake said she was moved by the stories and urged the public to continue to lobby the state with the same personal overtures.

“When you give clear stories that are easy to tell, it’s really powerful because that’s what politics does,” Shewmake said. “Those stories that cut through the noise are really awesome, so please do email us.”

The 42nd district legislators said there will certainly be hurdles to find new funding for public schools, including cutting other parts of the state budget and creating new revenue streams.

Fund Schools Now organizers encouraged people to write letters to state legislators with seats of power on budget committees, including chairman of the House appropriations committee Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane), chairman of the House education committee Steve Bergquist (D-Renton), and chair of the Senate ways and means committee June Robinson (D-Everett). They asked people seeking information on letter-writing campaigns to go to fundblaineschoolsnow.com or email fundblaineschoolsnow@gmail.com.