Advocacy
Join Rep. Shelley Kloba and her 1st LD seatmates, Senator Stanford and Representative Duerr, for a Town Hall on the 19th at Cascadia College. Visit the Facebook Event for details and updates.
Representative Kloba offered if you'd like to get in touch but can’t participate in the Town Hall, feel free to email her at shelley.kloba@leg.wa.gov. Please consider attending the Town Hall or emailing Rep. Kloba to ask for an increase in the education budget to help with the impending budget cuts.
Upcoming board meetings
March 21st, April 4th and April 18th.
Attend an information session
(4 new added!)
March 21st, April 4th and April 18th.
Attend an information session
(4 new added!)
Thursday, March 23, 5:30-6:30 pm - Presentation and Q&A in Spanish
Thursday, March 23, 7-8:00 pm - with Amharic Interpretation
Monday, March 27, 4:30-5:30 pm
Black and Brown Town Hall*: Tuesday, March 28, 5-6:00 pm
*Although this meeting is open to all, the voices and conversations will be centered for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
PTA speaks for every child with one voice. As the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the nation, we are the conscience of the country for issues affecting children and youth.
We are asking each of you to get informed on the current budget crisis, speak up, and be an advocate
GET INFORMED
Shoreline School District is considering significant cuts (up to $19 million) to its budget for next year that will hugely impact students and staff. Please read further for more information about the budget crisis and for action steps that we can take at the state and local levels. Thank you for getting involved and advocating for our students!
Shoreline Public Schools is currently facing a significant budget shortfall. We are trying to learn as much as we can about nuances of the causes and possible options for fixing it. But the shortest, simplest version is: At the state level, Washington restructured school funding for all public schools in 2018. The restructuring made all school districts much more dependent on state funds and capped local ability to raise funds through levies. Unfortunately, the state funding provides less money than operating costs, particularly in areas with high costs-of-living like Shoreline. The COVID crisis then gave schools 1) new crises that sapped reserves, 2) less bandwidth with which to manage a budget transition, and 3) declines in student enrollment. Shoreline is already at the max of our cap for our local levy, thus we can’t raise more money locally to make up the shortfall. So, we face significant cuts.
Shoreline School District is undergoing budget planning for the next school year. The current challenge is to make decisions to close a significant gap – roughly $19 million – in funds from the 2023-2024 budget in order to replenish the district’s “fund balance” (aka savings account). Detailed information about how we got here and what decisions are being made can be found in this document, as well as attending a Community Information Session (see below).
Cuts of this size will no doubt negatively impact Lake Forest Park Elementary and most likely result in the loss of staff positions. As a community we can strongly suggest to the Shoreline School Board that they consider a slow, multi-year, and careful phasing in of only the most absolutely necessary cuts. We urge you to voice your concerns about the impacts of these cuts on our children and community online, via email and in person.
Below are some items that make the Shoreline school district unique from other districts. Most notable is that they fully fund several full-time positions that have a tremendous impact on our children’s daily lives at school. These positions not only help with students’ academic learning but with their safety and social emotional learning as well.
Full-time dean
Full-time school nurse
Full-time librarian and library technician
Full-time school counselor
Family advocate
If you feel these services and staff members have benefited your student, please imagine what it might be like to lose these positions or have their time split between multiple schools. Think about how your family may be impacted with this loss of daily support and do what you can to make your voice heard by the Shoreline School District board.
Speak up
Write to State Legislators
We are asking all parents to please write to your state legislators. The Washington State legislative session is currently underway. The legislature has a two-year cycle, so we need to act NOW, or we won’t have another similar opportunity until 2025. Let’s come together to call for increased education funding and push for Washington to restructure our education funding moving forward, such that we can maintain Shoreline’s high-quality education.
Please contact Representatives Duerr and Kloba, and Senator Stanford to express your support for an increase in the education budget. Senator Stanford has elementary-aged kids in the Northshore district and Representative Kloba started her career in PTA.
To make it easy, we’ve provided a sample letter to send to legislators. Real world stories from constituents are especially impactful, so we’ve included an area at the top of the letter where you can add how your family will be personally affected by the budget cuts. Here’s what to do:
Copy the letter here
Personalize the letter by filling in the bracketed section at the top
Add your name and address at the bottom
Send!
ATTEND A DISTRICT MEETING
1) The next Shoreline School Board regular meeting is Tuesday, March 7 at 6pm. Board meetings are hybrid, so you may choose to attend in person at Shoreline Center or via Zoom.
Families may also submit public comments, either live at the meeting or beforehand via this online form (comment form is open at least one day prior and closes at noon on the day of the meeting). If several parents are willing to attend in person, it has been powerful in the past for multiple people to read a joint statement since public comments are limited to 2 minutes per person. View previous meeting agendas and recordings here. Invite your friends and neighbors in the community, too!
The advantage of commenting using the form or live at the meeting is that this community feedback becomes part of the public record, collected en masse for consideration and can influence the board to change course.
2) The Budget Advisory Team’s (BAT) next meeting is Monday, February 27, 4:30-6:30pm. Since these meetings are not being recorded, you can watch a live streaming in the Board Room at the Shoreline Center (18560 1st Ave NE). We encourage families to follow the BAT’s progress by attending on February 6 and/or accessing past presentations and additional resources on the BAT webpage.
If you have a suggestion that you think the team should consider, please send it to: budget.advteam@ssd412.org
Contact School Board Members
This is so important! We need every LFP PTA member and all community members to contact the School Board and place emphasis on asking them to institute the cuts over a period of time, not in a single year. Personal stories are impactful in showing the impact this would have on your students and our community.
Dr. Sarah Cohen - District #3
Board President
Up for re-election 2025
Email Director Dr. Cohen: sarah.cohen@ssd412.org
Emily Williams - District #2
Board Vice-President
Up for re-election 2025
Email Director Williams: emily.williams@ssd412.org
Meghan Jernigan - District #1
Up for re-election 2023
Email Director Jernigan: meghan.jernigan@ssd412.org
Dr. Rebeca Rivera - District #4
Up for re-election 2023
Email Director Dr. Rivera: rebeca.rivera@ssd412.org
Sara Betnel - District #5
Legislative Representative
Up for re-election 2023
Email Director Betnel: sara.betnel@ssd412.org
Copy all of their email addresses: sarah.cohen@ssd412.org, emily.williams@ssd412.org, meghan.jernigan@ssd412.org, rebeca.rivera@ssd412.org, sara.betnel@ssd412.org, school.board@ssd412.org
Superintendent, Dr. Susana Reyes: susana.reyes@ssd412.org
BE AN ADVOCATE
Share what's going on with just one neighbor
And ask them to do the same! Think about neighbors/friends in Shoreline School District who don't know what's going on, especially those with kids who will be enrolled in the future. Budget cuts this severe will have repercussions for years to come.
Sign Up for WSPTA Action Alerts
Subscribe to Washington State PTA’s Action Network Group to receive short action alerts that help support WSPTA’s advocacy efforts during the 2023 WA legislative session, including calling for protecting and increasing school funding. These action alerts provide quick, easy ways for families to communicate with their representatives on topics the legislature is actively working on.
