“School districts depend so much on the Legislature to complete their work on time so that we can complete our work. Whether it’s hiring teachers to reduce class size, adding more sections of full-day kindergarten, or purchasing busses, until the Legislature approves a budget, we are unable to move forward with our planning and decision-making. If the budget is delayed too much, this has the potential to negatively impact our students.”
~ Dave Bond, Superintendent, Kennewick School District
“A delayed final budget negatively impacts every facet of our district’s operation, including recruitment and hiring, program development, training, purchase of new curriculum and materials and expanding community partnerships.”
~ Frank Hewins, Superintendent, Franklin Pierce School District
“School districts are extremely dependent upon the legislature completing the budget process as expeditiously as possible for a number of very important reasons. The necessity of determining the funding available for staffing is primary. Washington competes regionally and or nationally for qualified teachers. We are currently experiencing high rates of requirements and delays in the budget process that place our state at a great disadvantage. Many budget items once determined by the legislature have additional costs locally without knowing the state budget parameters for COLAs or additional requirements like assessments, and unforeseen costs, can be a significant unplanned cost in the local district budget. Instructional materials purchases and technology upgrades, which have critical timelines during the summer months, often wait and are not in place if the budget process at the state level is extended. In order to plan with clear intention and to align our work with the goals of the state and our local school board having the state budget in place on time is critical.”
~ Tim Yeomans, Superintendent, Puyallup School District