Superintendant Sue Walker speaks to Shoreline families about State budget reductions

This letter was sent to all families with children in the Shoreline School District, addressing the severe budget cuts to education funding in the state.

Last weekend the Washington State Legislature approved a plan that will reduce the state’s current $1.1 billion budget deficit.

K-12 education funding was cut severely in this special session and we expect that more cuts are on the way.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed Edujobs legislation that provided Washington state with $208 million to create new jobs in K–12 education.

The Washington State Legislature has now reduced the state’s K–12 budget by $208 million, wiping out those federal dollars intended for education spending. Another $40 million was eliminated from the K–4 education budget intended to limit class size.

The immediate impact to the Shoreline School District is expected to be as follows:

• Shoreline's Edujobs funding of $1.76 million will be offset by an immediate equivalent reduction in State funding for 2010-2011.
• Shoreline will lose approximately $500,000 in K–4 class-size reduction funding for 2010-2011. We will be using our reserves to provide for this year’s K-4 staffing. These reserve funds will be used to pay for teachers who are currently under contract.
• Shoreline will lose approximately $75,000 in the Governor’s previous across-the- board reductions of 6.3 percent in the non-basic areas of K-3 enhancement, highly capable and student achievement. District reserves will cover this loss as well.

In the next biennial budget, the state is facing a $5 billion shortfall. We can only assume that the reductions to K-12 funding will continue into the foreseeable future, and this will mean significantly fewer resources for our students and classrooms.

As a result of the District's actions in recent years, Shoreline is in a better financial position than many other school districts. Spending down reserves, however, is only a short-term remedy to what appears to be a long-term Washington state problem.

Sincerely,

Sue Walker

Superintendent, Shoreline Schools