A Message from Superintendent Dr. James Everett

Thank you to the students, staff and families who provided feedback in our recent budget survey. We appreciate your valuable partnership as we continue to work on our district budget for next year. Themes from the budget feedback included prioritizing support for staff and students, staff compensation, continued technology improvements, opportunities for students to engage in extracurricular activities and school safety. We will keep these priorities in mind as we continue to work on the budget for next year. 

However, looking ahead, 2024-25 is going to be a challenging year for budgeting. The state legislature just ended their session and while they did provide some additional funding in a few key areas, these continue to fall far short of what is actually needed to effectively run a school district. Joel Aune, the Executive Director of Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), recently addressed this shortfall across the state. 

For example, inflation is increasing costs of materials, supplies and equipment by almost 15 percent. The state’s response to this was to grant us $21 more per student to offset this increase. This doesn’t come close to covering the increased costs. 

We are dedicated to providing the best quality education for all of our students and are working hard to make decisions that will have the least negative impact on our learning environment. In order to ensure that our district has a healthy financial standing, our focus next year will be on being resourceful and thoughtful in how we allocate our resources. This means we are exploring all options including, but not limited to, spending and hiring freezes next year and the possibility of a reduction in force. 

We do not make these decisions lightly, and we want you to be aware of the conversations that are happening in our district to balance our budget. We will continue to update you as we have more information about our budget for next year. Budget information is available on our website at www.meridian.wednet.edu/budget.