Blaine school board asks state for more funding as budget cut looms

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The Blaine school district board of directors held a brief meeting on January 27 where the group updated the community on the status of multiple state laws making their way through the state’s legislative session in Olympia and officially cosigned a resolution urging the state to address inadequate funding.

More budget cuts expected

The school board unanimously approved the lone action item on the agenda, co-signing a resolution urging the state legislature to address the K-12 funding. The resolution cited persistent funding gaps that have challenged not just the Blaine school district, but others across the state. In the past two years, the Blaine school district has laid off roughly 90 full-time staff members due to significant budget shortfalls.

During a January 21 community meeting, Blaine superintendent Christopher Granger said he expected the district would be looking at another round of budget cuts, this time in the low seven-figure range. In May 2024, the board voted to cut roughly 30 full-time staff positions, saving the district $2.5 million in the 2024-25 budget.

The resolution said the state “failed to act on a variety of options presented to address the systemically underfunded public education system in Washington state,” and asked representatives in Olympia to overhaul the current funding system for “stable and sustainable revenue with ample provisions for equitable funding.”

Multiple school boards from across the county signed and ratified similar resolutions urging the state for more funding. Six school districts in Washington, including Mt. Baker school district, are under binding conditions with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), meaning the school district was unable to balance its budget, as required by state law.

Blaine hosted 42nd district representatives Alicia Rule (D-Blaine), Joe Timmons (D-Bellingham) and senator Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham), along with students and staff from Mt. Baker and Ferndale school districts, to discuss the future of education funding during a town hall meeting on January 7.

During that meeting, students across the county described how funding shortfalls had impacted their education and opportunities. The 42nd district legislators said they would work toward a solution, but also pointed out a $12 billion dollar budget shortfall the state is facing, and said new revenue streams would need to be created to bring significantly more funding to local school districts.

Bond vote waiting until November

After a $70 million bond to renovate Blaine Middle School and provide other capital improvements across the district failed at the polls twice in 10 months, Granger announced the district will likely not present another bond to voters until the November general election.

Granger had hoped to bring another bond to voters by the April election, but is now holding off while legislators in Olympia work toward lowering the supermajority threshold.

Under the state constitution, capital bond measures must reach a 60 percent supermajority threshold to reach approval, but proposed legislation in the state legislature – Senate Bill 5186 and Senate Joint Resolution 8200 – could lower that threshold to 55 percent if passed.

The past two failed bond measures for Blaine school district reached 54.7 majority approval in February 2024, and 55.9 percent in November 2024. Capital bond measures in 14 school districts were introduced to voters across the state during the November general election, and only four reached the 60 percent threshold.

The bill, co-sponsored by Shewmake, was introduced on January 13 and a public hearing was held on January 16 in Olympia. The amendment to the state constitution would require a two-thirds majority approval from both the Senate and House, then a simple majority approval in the next general election.

Renaming of district delayed

The board briefly discussed community petitions to add “Birch Bay” onto the official name of the Blaine school district, which proponents say is a way to recognize the many students, families and taxpayers in Birch Bay. The board agreed that further discussion and consideration should be made on the subject, but that more pertinent matters must be dealt with first. The board said it would rehash the topic in the summer.

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