The Blaine School Board voted to send a resolution on education funding to state lawmakers, discussed restricting the board president and vice president positions to more senior members, and highlighted student accomplishments across the district during its Feb. 23 meeting.
The school board unanimously approved sending a resolution to state lawmakers that urged them not to reduce funding for the Transition to Kindergarten program (TK) and address education funding shortfalls that have forced the district to fill in the gaps.
The resolution comes just as the House and Senate released their supplemental budget proposals, following the governor’s earlier budget proposal to cut 25% of TK funding.
Board members wrote that the program, created to provide early learning to students before kindergarten, has helped Blaine students who otherwise would fall behind with their learning. The program is focused on helping students with disabilities, without preschool access and multilingual learners.
“There’s a lot of things they ask us to do. Yearly, there’s bills and unfunded mandates,” Superintendent Dan Chaplik told board members when discussing the TK funding. “But rarely have I seen one make the difference I’ve seen this one make.”
In their resolution, the board also expressed concern about the state’s ability to cover district operating costs that would pay for keeping classrooms warm, among other expenses.
The state pays for those operating costs through a materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC) allocation for each student. But despite increased MSOC funding in recent years, the district says expenses have still outpaced state allocations. For example, over the past five years, liability insurance premiums have doubled and utility costs have increased 40% in Blaine. The gap has required the Blaine School District to cover an annual shortfall of $650,000 through local levies.
The board also requested special education funding support, as the state’s special education funding model doesn’t fully cover state- and federally-mandated services. This requires the district to redirect $1 million annually from money that otherwise would go to staffing and MSOC so the district can meet legal requirements for students with disabilities.
The resolution ended with the board requesting the legislature fully fund all state-mandated services, including special education and MSOC, as well as maintain the current level of TK funding. The board also urged lawmakers to establish a sustainable revenue framework that ensured “ample, equitable, and constitutionally compliant funding for all children in Washington state.”
The school board debated whether they wanted to restrict the board president and vice president positions to members who had served for over a year.
The discussion came up as the district was voting on first readings of policies recommended by the Washington State School Directors’ Association, a common procedure for board meetings.
Board Member Ben Lazarus, who was voted vice president during his first year in 2024, was against the change.
“If we’re electing the people, we should be electing the best people,” he said.
Bob Feaster said he was concerned that the policy was restricting the board’s rights, while Erika Creydt said she supported the policy and was in favor of including a clause for extenuating circumstances in the wording.
The first reading of policy 1210 passed 4-1, with Lazarus in opposition. A second reading will be presented to the board at a future meeting.
The policy was among several others presented to the board without much discussion, including standards for school directors and key functions of the board.
Creydt asked Chaplik if there were any conversations about reinstating a school resource officer between the school district and Blaine Police Department. Chaplik said he had recently spoken with the police department about having a school officer, but there needed to be more talks about how the position would be funded. The job was a full-time position that ended several years ago due to budget constraints.
Chaplik recognized students from each grade for their leadership and scholastic achievements. The recognized students were Iyla Briand-Holub of Point Roberts Primary School; Atticus Klasky, Roxanna Walter, Lucy Dahm and Michael Jackson of Blaine Primary School; Shelby Mason, Mason Chandler and Xavier Hayes of Blaine Elementary School; Luisa Bella, Margot Hargreaves and Emily Aamot of Blaine Middle School; and Elijah Price, Zane Mecham, Maribel Clark and Tessa Cobb of Blaine High School.
During his general reports, Chaplik told board members that the Community Facility Advisory Committee will have its first meeting on March 3. Twenty people joined the committee, which will review the district’s facilities and recommend to the board in June whether it should go out for a bond proposal.
The Blaine School Board will hold its next meeting in Birch Bay, which is the first time the district has held a meeting there in recent years. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 23 at North Bay Community Church, 4895 Birch Bay-Lynden Road.
Board members also decided to start holding study sessions during the second Monday of each month as needed, and will switch the regular meeting time from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. starting in April.
