Superintendent’s Blog: Support for Bellevue’s Beloved Community and Budget Update
Hi Bellevue Community,
This week and last, celebrations of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took place across our schools. Students honored the different aspects of Dr. King’s legacy in the United States, including his courage and determination to stand up for justice, his endless belief in the hope of humanity, and his fierce advocacy for those who are suffering.
The Bellevue School District honors Dr. King’s legacy by our commitment to deliver on his vision of the beloved community – a community where students, staff, and families care for one another, and where there is no hunger, poverty, or hatred. This is true in the best of times, and especially true in the hardest of times.
In this letter, I have two updates related to uplifting our beloved community: support for students with undocumented immigration status and budget planning for the 2025-2026 school year.
Support for Students with Undocumented Immigration Status
Right now, there are students and families in Bellevue who are burdened by the uncertainty associated with their immigration status and are worried to the point that they might not feel safe sending their kids to school. For those families, we want you to know that you are an integral part of our beloved community, and your children’s immigration status will not impact their safety in school. We have a district procedure (procedure 4310.1P) developed in 2019 that directs how staff are to engage with immigration agencies. The introduction to the procedure states our value of our community in the introduction:
The diversity of the Bellevue School District is a key strength of the District and our students, families and staff enhance collective learning and enrich the community. The District is committed to a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all students, families and employees regardless of immigration status. The District does not, and will not, collect or share immigration information about any student, family or employee nor provide access to employee or student records or protected information absent proper authorization. This procedure is based on the belief that all students who reside within the District have the right to an education regardless of immigration status.
If you as a family have any questions about the safety of your children related to immigration status, please reach out to your building administrator or any staff member in our schools or district offices. You can also reach out to staff at our BSD Welcome Center at hello@bsd405.org who are there to support you. Finally, today, state Superintendent, Chris Reykdal, put out a press release reaffirming state-wide support for students with undocumented immigration status as well as guidance for school districts on how to protect immigrant students in Washington state schools.
Update on Budget Planning and Legislative Advocacy
On Wednesday, January 22, 2025, the Washington State Senate had a hearing on four important bills that address our “Big 3” funding priorities: Special Education (SB 5192 and SB 5307), MSOC (SB 5192), and Transportation (SB 5187). I testified before the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee in Olympia and in support of all four bills. There were superintendents, PTSA leaders, labor leaders, and leaders of state-wide organizations advocating for the same; it’s inspiring and encouraging to see the alignment among all districts in the state in support of these bills. Together, if passed, these bills could bring in over $10 million annually to Bellevue, which would be a tremendous lifeline in funding critical support and services for our kids and staff.
Without additional funding from the state, our district is facing a $16 million funding gap for the 2025-2026 school year, which will result in deep cuts to staffing across our system. Prior to developing and presenting a spending reduction proposal, I am soliciting input from students, staff, and families regarding ways in which we can reduce spending, increase revenue, and prioritize trade-offs (what priorities we’re willing to forgo to fund other priorities). Our survey is open until Friday, January 24, 2025. I encourage you to take the survey if you haven’t yet, to share your ideas and opinions. Once I release a spending reduction proposal on February 6, there will be additional opportunities for students, staff, and community to ask questions and provide comments on the proposal. Here are key dates in our budget planning process for the 2025-2026 school year:
- Thursday, January 23 – School Board study session on feedback collected from the community so far
- Thursday, February 6 – Superintendent presentation of spending reduction plan proposal for the 2025-2026 school year to the school board
- February/March – Opportunity for students, staff, and community to provide comments on the spending reduction plan proposal
- Thursday, March 6 – Special School Board Meeting for public comment regarding the spending reduction plan proposal
- Thursday, March 13 – School Board to approve the spending reduction plan
- April 27 – End of the legislative session (when we’ll know if/how much additional funding will come from the state for public education)
For the most current information about our budget planning process, visit our district budget webpage.
Times of economic shortfalls are so challenging, particularly given the fact that educator jobs and student welfare can be impacted. At the same time, if there is anything good to come from these challenges, it’s the conversations that organizations are forced to have to reprioritize what matters most, stop what might not be most effective, reassess what we can afford, and reorganize and strengthen efficiencies given our limited resources. In some ways, this is what many families do every January as we celebrate the new year and make resolutions to make the next year stronger and better than the last. As we go through these difficult conversations, let’s not waste this opportunity to reaffirm our priorities in the Bellevue School District and advocate fiercely for the resources to fund these priorities.
In partnership,
Dr. Aramaki
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