2025 – 2026 School Year Budget Parameters
Each year brings a different context to budgeting. The following are parameters supported by the School Board to guide the district in developing the 2025 – 2026 school year’s budget, including how to approach budget reductions.
Prioritize Each & Every Student
- Prioritize students and their educational experience; start with cuts furthest from the classroom.
- Protect the district’s strategic priorities, moving funds from other areas as needed.
- Maintain equitable support, services, and opportunities to continue to close opportunity gaps and deliver on our Equity and Accountability commitments.
- Prioritize maintaining student programs that create student joy, engagement, belonging, and provide mental health support.
Reduce Expenditures
- Find ways to reduce the budget by $20 million through efficiencies and trimming, versus elimination of programs or services.
- Maintain consistent and predictable operations and services, while improving efficiency.
- Evaluate and incorporate student, family, and staff feedback to the extent possible.
Increase Revenue
- Advocate for additional state funding for Special Education; Materials, Supplies and Operating Costs; and Transportation consistent with the Board approved 2025 Legislative Priorities during the 2025 legislative session.
- Build on the educational excellence of BSD to retain and attract students.
- Partner with community partners, including the Bellevue Schools Foundation and the City of Bellevue, to increase revenue through donations and grants.
- Pursue additional funding opportunities locally as well as creative opportunities for cost-sharing, cost-cutting, increased efficiencies, and revenue generation.
Plan for the Long-Term
- Stabilize our long-term financial picture
- End the 2025 – 2026 school year with between $4 and $7 million in general fund reserves and prioritize restoring the 5-6% of expenditures fund balance over the next 5 years.
- Allocate resources to successfully implement and support our strategic plan, including investing in new and innovative opportunities, using an intentional, multi-year, budget-responsible approach to program investments; pause elements of the strategic plan that can be implemented in future years when finances are stable.
- Develop a plan to address district structural issues that result in budget deficits.
- Develop a restoration plan built on community priorities.
- Improve financial communications to create a foundation of community trust and district transparency.