A Message from Superintendent Greg Baker

Dear students, staff, families and community,

I want to share an update on our budget planning for the 2025-26 school year and ask for your feedback.

As you know, Bellingham Public Schools, with almost all other districts in our state and around the country, are  facing some significant budget challenges, and we have already started proactive steps this year.

Below are actions we have implemented already, as well as some ideas to save money in the future to help fill the approximately $15 million gap.

• Reducing staff through attrition. Where possible, we are not filling vacancies as they become open this year.  We will likely need to increase class sizes somewhat next year in grades 4-12.  By not filling positions now, this approach can be less disruptive and mean fewer layoffs in the future.
• Partnering with our labor groups to collaboratively explore cost-saving ideas.
• Scaling back on supplies/materials, travel and professional development expenses for this year and next.
• Revising the 2025-26 school calendar. This includes the possibility of using a state waiver day to reduce next year’s school calendar to 179 school days, which is a strategy we have used before and is used by numerous districts, as well as potentially reducing the number of staff learning days (purple days).  This could mean the first day for students would be Tuesday, September 2, 2025 (after Labor Day, instead of the Thursday before Labor Day), and the last day could be Friday, June 12, 2026 (instead of Monday, June 15).
• Supporting Project Free Education. This includes collaborating with Bellingham Public Schools Foundation with its fundraising efforts and implementing $100 fees per season for high school sports (optional if families can pay) and traffic safety (drivers’ education) for families who can afford it.  We are proud of our efforts to reduce out-of-pocket costs for families via Project Free Education, and we also hear from some families and community members that they’d be happy to make donations to support these efforts. The Foundation is an important partner, and we always welcome donations to support our schools.

Share your feedback

We would like to hear from you. What suggestions or questions do you have regarding budget plans? What do you think about making adjustments to the 2025-26 calendar? What are your thoughts on contributing to high school sports or driver’s education?

We do not take budget cuts lightly and we are asking for your thoughts on some of these adjustments, which are strategic efforts to protect the classroom in as many ways as possible while acknowledging the district’s biggest expenditure is our staff.

Please fill out this feedback form by 4 p.m. Friday, March 28.

What’s happening in Olympia?

We are closely watching the Washington state Legislature; the session is currently in full swing and it’s expected to wrap up by the end of April unless it goes into a special session.

Governor Bob Ferguson has expressed strong support for public school funding. He is advocating to the legislature to increase the percentage of the state budget allocated for PreK-12 funding. Since 2017, it has dropped from 54% to 44%. In addition, Ferguson also strongly supports universal free breakfast and lunch for all students. We are encouraged by this positive energy for school funding.

Lawmakers are also considering increasing funding for Maintenance, Supplies and Operating Costs (MSOCs) and Special Education, and there is some discussion to “lift the levy lid,” which would allow districts to ask local voters for slightly more levy funding than the current cap allows through a ballot measure.

Finally, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal released a video to answer questions about federal actions, student civil rights and state funding, which offers some additional context that you might find helpful.

Please share your thoughts either via the feedback form or feel free to email me directly. We look forward to hearing from you.

Greg Baker
reply to: greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org