Wet feet . . .

I returned home late last night to find more snow than I can ever recall at our house. Now, I know that I'm not very tall, but the snow came up to the top of my barn boots and those go up to my knees. I went home to check on the house, the horses, and the other animals. It didn't look like much new snow had fallen in Maple Valley, but Ravensdale was dumped upon. They even plowed and sanded our entry road; something that I don't ever recall being done.

We have taken the grand kids to a place where they can swim and we can use the hot tub and sauna and that is where I have returned. What a difference. The pictures tell the story. Now my feet will only be wet from warm water, not from snow in my boots. That is if I wear boots in the hotel parking lot that is ankle deep in slush and ice.

I have been taking some time away from work related thinking, but the budget issue seems to never be far from my thoughts. It angers me that all school systems in the state are faced with these problems at the same time that we face new challenges with NCLB, changing standards, and the unknowns of new OSPI leadership.

I realize and appreciate the major challenges that the Governor and legislators face and the many challenges that families are experiencing in these difficult times. I also have come to accept that public education will not be spared as budgets at the state level are built. I don't like it, but I don't see how a compromise budget will emerge without some cuts. We have made the decision to use the Governor's proposed budget as our target. As I shared in an earlier post, I thought with the democrats in control of both houses that this would be a good benchmark. But, with republicans speaking positively about it, with the threat of a lawsuit by state workers, and with talk of raising taxes I no longer believe that it will survive without changes. Where and how many I don't pretend to know, we can only hope that they don't result in cuts that make balancing our budgets more difficult.

There is also a renewed initiative to raise the levy lid. The initiative emerges every year at legislative time as many of the larger Puget Sound districts lobby to raise the lid. With the proposed and expected cuts, this may be the year that it happens as legislators may see it as a way for districts to make up for the cuts. We have not and continue to not be in favor of this as we believe that it results in more disparity and relieves the state from their responsibility to fund public education. We are currently at about 24% of our revenue from local levy and believe that our community would not want the district to be able to increase this through local funds. What are your thoughts about raising the local levy lid? Many east side districts are supportive of this as they are able to easily pass their operating levy.

I guess that what is bothering me most is that these challenges are creating additional stress and anxiety for many of our staff members concerned for their jobs. Unfortunately, these are real concerns that for the first time in my experience may become a reality as we look at more closely aligning what we do with the statutory requirements of a public education in the state of Washington. Next week we will be continuing this process as we begin to identify all the services that we are currently providing our students, parent, and community.