Legislative Priorities 2024-25

In the Northshore School Board, proactive planning is a core value. To support the work of our district, we appreciate our legislators’ support in addressing these important items.

Create a sustainable funding system that matches student needs

  • The prototypical school model has not kept up with evolving student needs and is unsustainable.
    • Today's students need a comprehensive support system that includes mental health professionals, assistant principals and deans, among other support staff, that the current model does not reflect.
  • Despite the Legislature's recent investments in special education, MSOC and paraprofessional support, the funding model still falls far short.
    • Students’ increasingly complex special education and multi-lingual needs means Northshore is projected to use 31% of our local levy ($21M) to backfill the funding shortfall for these services in 2024-25. 
    • On top of historic under-funding, inflation has exacerbated MSOC expenses, resulting in a $4.3 million shortfall for 2024-25.
  • Across the K-12 system, current transportation formulas do not cover each district’s actual costs and infrastructure.
  • The state funding allocation for classified salaries has long lagged behind our local labor market's inflationary reality for hiring food service workers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, etc. The post-pandemic inflationary gap is even greater.

Create conditions that remove barriers and increase innovation for student growth 

  • Unfunded mandates must be funded or eliminated.
    • Every unfunded mandate requires a cut to another district program or student service.
    • Impedes local community prioritization of instructional needs.
  • Continual addition of new graduation requirements to an already over-burdened curriculum must stop.
    • To meet continually growing high school graduation requirements, students are left with less educational choice.
    • Limits ability to also meet college entrance requirements.
  • Create policy that supports the evolution from simple memorization and "seat time" to an applied mastery of skills (e.g., creativity, innovation, and critical thinking) as 65% of today's students will be employed in jobs that don't exist today.

Support districts' need to respond to climate change through multi-year grants and programs

  • Our students must live with the future we leave them and they have spoken loud and clear.
  • Provide funding opportunities in areas such as solar power sources, electric buses, safe bicycle lanes, and building cooling systems.

Approve legislation to enable simple majority passage of capital bonds for school districts 

  • Washington is 1 of only 8 states that still require a 60% passage rate.
  • The consequential inequity of this requirement directly impacts the safety of students all over the state.