Members of the Mercer Island School District will join representatives from four other school districts at a “School Funding Crisis” town hall from 7-8:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Sammamish High School.
According to an event flier, “The state of Washington continues to fall short of its paramount, constitutional duty to fully fund basic K-12 education, which has forced: school closures, increased class sizes, program cuts, reduced class periods, staffing cuts, severe shortfalls in special education and transportation.”
Other school districts that will have PTAs, leaders and teachers present at the event are from Bellevue, Lake Washington, Issaquah and Renton. The public is invited to stand with the districts, “learn more and to ask our legislators to fully fund education,” the flier reads.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) sent the Reporter a statement, which reads in part: “At the state level, OSPI continues to advocate for the Legislature to ensure that the state’s investments in K–12 education keep up with inflation. Compared to 2018, the state is now sending out $1,000 less per student when adjusted for inflation. At the same time, school districts still need to be able to pay the costs to operate school (for example, supplies, transportation, utilities and maintenance, and more) while also maintaining excellent programming for their students. Superintendent (Chris) Reykdal has continued to advocate for the governor and the Legislature to address these gaps in the state budget.”
The event is free and no RSVP is required. Sammamish High School is located at 100 140th Ave. SE, Bellevue.
BUDGET WEBINAR
The Mercer Island School District is hosting a community budget webinar from 6-7 p.m. on Jan. 9 via Google Meet to update the community on the current district budget and student enrollment.
Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle will lead the webinar, which will include presentations from Executive Director of Finance & Operations Matt Sullivan. The webinar can be viewed live (https://meet.google.com/hrx-aipu-cfa) and will be recorded and made available on the district website and YouTube channel.
COLLEGE TRANSITION INFO WEBINAR
The Mercer Island School District is hosting a College Transition Information Webinar for students and families from 6-8 p.m. on Jan. 14 on Google Meet. This webinar will feature a panel of recent Mercer Island High School (MIHS) graduates speaking about how the district prepared them for college and university and their post-MIHS life. To view the webinar: https://meet.google.com/uzk-axbj-dug.
FUTURE ISLANDER NIGHT
MIHS will be hosting its second annual Future Islander Night from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Jan. 16. At the event, current Islander Middle School students and parents and other high-school-age students and families living on Mercer Island but not enrolled in the local district can visit MIHS to learn more about its classes, curriculum, programs, school groups and athletic programs.
