A Message from Superintendent Greg Baker

Dear students, staff, families and community members,

The Washington state legislature concluded its session earlier this month and despite consistent and meaningful advocacy from many in Bellingham (including students, staff, parents and school board members) and across the state, the legislature did not come through for public education, which according to our state constitution is the paramount duty of the state.

As you can see in this recent piece in the Seattle Times, (pdf version) this isn’t just a local issue. The state’s inaction is affecting districts across Washington.

In our district, we work on our budget year-round; we start looking at revenues and costs early and do our best to share what we know with our community and labor groups throughout the year to minimize surprises. Our budget webpage is kept continually updated with resources and information.

Early planning; our work so far

• Anticipating a shortfall, we went out for the supplemental operations levy in fall 2025, and thanks to voters, it passed. It helped, but it was capped, so we were limited in what we could ask of voters. 
• We also announced a cost-saving shift earlier this year regarding our high school schedule.
• We have been making adjustments throughout the year when opportunity arises; for example, not filling some positions with mid-year vacancies.
• We have been working with our labor leaders to share budget updates, discuss key issues with legislators and brainstorm next steps.

Here are some of the themes we hear from the feedback from our community this school year:

• Protect people and programs closest to the classroom and students and/or those who provide direct instruction or support
• Do not increase class size
• Reduce staff at the District Office and administrators
• Consider asking for contributions from families who can afford to pay fees for athletics and other enrichment activities. 

We care deeply about our staff and do not make decisions to reduce staff lightly. We wish the legislature's lack of action would not force districts to make cuts to staffing.  The Bellingham Promise demonstrates our community’s values and our collective  commitment to students. Guided by The Promise outcomes, over the years we have worked hard to add capacity to many areas of our schools and district and it’s tough—heartbreaking, really—to step back some of these important supports. I can’t say this strongly enough - the state needs to figure out how to fix the funding model and prioritize schools and public education.   In the last six years, the overall percent of the state budget going to public education has dropped from nearly 52% to approximately 43%.  This is unacceptable.

The state is reducing funding in areas including transitional kindergarten (what we call Promise K) and Running Start. Grants for mental health specialists are going away and some federal program money is also less than expected. The legislature continues to rely on faulty models including regionalization, experience factor and its prototypical model for schools. State funding is not keeping up with inflation, and they consistently underfund areas such as utilities and insurance, Special Education and substitutes. This underfunding leads us with the need to reprioritize around $7.5M for next year.

Based on these conditions, for 2026-27:

• We are not increasing class sizes.  We will focus on adjusting classroom support both at the school and district level.
• We will be restructuring support staff at schools. One example of this is in our school libraries; they will continue to be open to students all day, but the staffing model will change. We are one of the last districts in our area to have certificated library media specialists. We will be reassigning librarians teaching positions in the classroom and staffing libraries with non-certificated staff to support students.  We will also be slightly adjusting dean and counseling support at the elementary level and counseling at the middle school level.
• We will make some adjustments within our elementary experiences for fifth graders.  We will pause on our fifth grade outdoor experience (e.g., mountain school) and look for other ways to give students opportunities to engage with our local forests and waterways.  We will look for efficiencies with our music and PE schedules, as well.  
• At the secondary level, we are refining what athletics/activities are offered and what the costs are for families for participation.  We’ll also be adjusting yearbook costs.
• Per the state’s reductions in early learning, we will be reducing Promise K and childcare opportunities at our early learning centers. We will continue to work with community partners to be creative in what we can do to adjust.
• We will continue to increase advertising opportunities for sponsors in order to support our athletics and activities programs.
• Similar to the reductions made over the last few years, we will continue to refine staffing at the District Office and itinerant staff. Some of these reductions are through attrition, meaning when someone leaves or retires, to keep costs down we don’t always hire a replacement. Examples include reductions in human resources, grants, teaching and learning, health services, teachers on special assignment (TOSAs), facilities and mental health services.

What’s next

If you’re upset, we understand. We are frustrated as well. We encourage you to contact your state representatives to start setting the stage for the next session.

We will continue to do our part with advocacy.

In addition to the state funding dilemma, declining birth rates are another factor across the country and locally. We have a thoughtful group of folks on our facilities planning task force working on recommendations that will hopefully create efficiencies and save money. No decisions have been made, but please look for continued updates this spring, including this message from March 25.

Our district is dealing with some complex and difficult issues. I was recently interviewed on KGMI about a number of topics including lower birth rates and budget , which you can listen to.

You may sense my intense frustration toward our state legislature with how they fund schools. 

In spite of this, what gives me hope is the care and respect our staff show our students every day, the passion our parents and community have toward ensuring a high quality education for their kids and the incredible students I observe on a weekly basis in our classrooms, on our fields and stages, and throughout our schools.  We have an outstanding school district in an amazing and supportive community.  We will continue to be guided by our North Star – the mission, vision, core beliefs, outcomes and key strategies of The Promise.

Thank you for continuing to be engaged in our schools and district. Our staff are working hard to meet growing complex needs, and our students need all of us more than ever.

Greg Baker

reply to greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org