Planning for the Future – Staff and Community Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Minimum Fund Balance and what are those funds used for?

A minimum fund balance describes a sufficient fund balance in each budgetary fund to assure sound financial practices, provide program stability, provide stability for employees, and obtain excellent bond ratings.

As set by the Board of Directors of the Bellevue School District in Policy 6022, in order to provide stability of programs and maintain sound financial practices, “the District will establish a prudent set aside of the fund balance level in the General Fund. This will allow the District to ensure the continuity of the educational program.” Annually, it is in the best interest of Bellevue School District that the Board maintain a set aside general fund balance within the range of 5-6% of the prior year’s actual expenditures. Fund balance is generally used for unexpected expenditures that would impact financial outcomes for any given year.

A fund balance, also referred to as a reserve, is a savings account for the district and considered one-time funds. This means that these funds are generally used for a single purpose — once — and for unexpected operations needs during the school year. Fund balance works like a personal savings account where funds are typically spent/used on a discretionary/select basis. Using the analogy of a personal savings account, a recurring expense — for example, like a mortgage — would not be paid using a fund balance since it would deplete savings. Instead, a recurring expense would be paid through a reliable income source.

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2. What happens to students (in-district and out-of-district) who have open-enrolled or open-transferred to an impacted school?

Any student who has already been accepted through open enrollment or open transfer at any of the schools being considered for consolidation will be first assumed to move in cohort with all the students for that school. If that school is being considered for consolidation across multiple locations, such as Wilburton, students are initially being assigned to a school based on geography, whether their home address falls north or south of Wilburton. However, every student at these impacted schools will have priority for submitting a new transfer request. The district will make every effort to satisfy requests for transfer for all students at the schools being considered for consolidation.

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3. What are the impacts to new teachers if the consolidation does not take place? How many teachers will be laid off?

For the 2023-2024 school year the Bellevue School District is anticipating a $31 million shortfall in income versus expenditures. The consolidations of schools is being considered as one of the strategies to address this shortfall. The other strategies for consideration include the development of innovative programming to attract more students, reducing programs and staff, and utilizing some portion of general fund balance. Each school that is consolidated is equivalent to approximately $3 million in savings. If we do not consolidate schools, for each school that is not consolidated, the district may need to go into a formal reduction in force process. These reductions generally impact staff that is hired last first, and $3 million is equivalent to 30 educators at the lower end of the salary schedule.

If we use school consolidation as a means of addressing the budget shortfall, the reduction of staff can come through typical attrition which includes retirements. The number of staff that would need to be reduced would be decreased because loss of employees would occur throughout the salary schedule meaning a reduction of approximately 20 staff members versus the 30 staff noted above.

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4. What is the financial impact on the district if only one school is consolidated? Two schools?

Each school that is consolidated is equivalent to approximately $3 million in savings. If we do not consolidate schools, for each school that is not consolidated, the district may need to go into a formal reduction in force process. This reduction in force generally impact staff that is hired last first, and $3 million is equivalent to 30 educators.

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5. Why has the district not consulted with a second demographer to ensure accurate of the forecast?

The district has consulted with a second demographer. Additional information will be provided in the report shared with the board for the March 9, school board meeting.

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6. How much of the budget shortfall would be reduced by closing three elementary schools?

For the 2023-2024 school year the Bellevue School District is anticipating a $31 million shortfall in income versus expenditure. The consolidations of schools is being considered as one of the strategies to address this shortfall. The other strategies for consideration include the development of innovative programming to attract more students, reducing programs and staff, and utilizing some portion of general fund balance. Each school that is consolidated is equivalent to approximately $3 million in savings. If we do not consolidate schools, for each school that is not consolidated, the district will need to go into a formal reduction in force process. These reductions generally impact staff that is hired last first, and $3 million is equivalent to 30 educators.

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7. Has BSD considered selling its surplus property to generate needed funds?

The district does own surplus property. However, if that property is sold, state law requires the district to place the proceeds into the capital fund. The capital fund cannot be used for operating expenditures. Therefore, it cannot be used for teacher salaries and other operational functions necessary to operate the district on a day-to-day basis.

The selling of district property will not and cannot address the shortfall that we are currently facing.

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8. When will all the school boundaries be redrawn?

Preliminary school boundaries for the consolidation have already been drawn and presented in the report that was given to the board on February 9. These boundaries will be finalized once the board makes their decision on March 16.

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9. Can the district provide future plans for the emptied facilities?

The district does plan to use the empty facilities for schools, but specifics have not yet been finalized. The specifics will be finalized once the board makes their decision on March 16.

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10. Why is the decision being made this school year? What time constraints is the district working under?

The district did not have a clear view on whether the enrollment decline that that was being experienced would be permanent and long term. Prior to then, the enrollment losses were thought to be short term as a result of the effects of COVID. In fall 2021, the district was abiding to state requirements for adequate spacing, resulting in smaller class sizes and higher staffing levels which are untenable to maintain. Following those requirements, the district was dealing with variants of COVID and complying with required safety measures.

In October 2022 it became clear that enrollment would not go back to pre-pandemic levels as a result of lower birth rates, higher housing costs, more educational options for families including private schools, lower immigration levels and families moving to more affordable areas. The impact of the drop in enrollment will hit the district’s financial position in the 2023-2024 school year. The district anticipates having a $30-35 million shortfall in income versus expenditures. Options to address the shortfall have been reviewed for the past several months. The consolidation of schools is one option to address the shortfall. Other options include spending down the general fund balance and cutting spending.

As set by the Board of Directors of the Bellevue School District Policy 6022, allows the district to spend down the fund balance by $9 million. This leaves $21-26 million that would still need to be removed from the budget. This would result in programmatic cutbacks. Consolidating schools is a significant approach to make these reductions. The consolidation of schools is truly about right sizing our district based on the enrollment that we currently have. If we suspend the notion that all of the data surrounding enrollment is flawed, we currently have too many elementary schools for the number of elementary students in our district.

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11. What strategies does the district have in place to support the well-being of students impacted by the transition?

A variety of social emotional learning (SEL) supports are available to students and families at schools impacted by the school consolidation/closure process.  Our district student well-being team has developed a series of lesson plans for use in classrooms that focus on change, emotions, and when things may feel uncertain. Children’s books have been purchased that align with these lesson plans and distributed to schools.  Additionally, the elementary counseling and MHAT (mental health assistance team) groups are available to support small groups or individual students that would benefit from additional support. Regional transition planning teams have been convening, and part of the planning process includes developing additional school specific strategies that support the emotional well-being of students and staff.  Regional transition teams are comprised of staff from schools that are under consideration for closure as well as schools that are scheduled to receive new students. The purpose of these teams to ensure a well-thought out and responsive transition for students.

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12. How will staff jobs be affected in the 2023-24 school year?

Union negotiated agreements have a defined process that will be used for staff re-assignment during this process. Every year, staff members leave the district for various reasons. Based on historical data, we anticipate enough staff members will leave the district so the district will not need additional staff reductions. If the district does not consolidate schools, then layoffs will be necessary to maintain financial stability.

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13. What happens if no steps are taken to mitigate enrollment decline? What other scenarios/options were considered?

If the district does not consolidate elementary schools, staffing throughout the district will have to be reduced — resulting in layoffs. The district will need to eliminate or reduce staff and student services throughout the district. Specific decisions have not been made but could include reductions in the following roles:

• Interventionists
• Co-teachers
• Librarians
• ITCLs
• Assistant principals
• Curriculum developers
• Central office directors and supports
• Maintenance, grounds, custodians and other operational personnel
• Paraeducators
• General school assistants
• Secretaries

In addition, to help reduce the impact of small schools, schools will have more mixed grade classrooms at small schools to keep class sizes closer the targets in the negotiated agreement.

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14. Are staff cuts at central offices being considered?

The roles of central office staff members are being assessed. Positions at central office will be reduced. Central office expenditures total $47 million or 12% of our overall budget and includes district administration, curriculum and teaching support. District administration costs $16 million annually and includes many of our required business functions — accounting, budgeting, payroll and human resources. The district can improve the efficiency of the operations; however, we cannot eliminate these functions. Unfortunately, the enrollment reductions the district has already experienced result in a $20 million reduction in revenue, and we anticipate enrollment continuing to drop for the next 10 years. Reductions will be made throughout the district — central office, support services and at schools.

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15. What are the plans for preschool?

Preschool is being taken into consideration. In alignment with a study completed by the Haring Center at the University of Washington in 2019, the district vision is to have preschool students attend their neighborhood schools to support a smooth transition to kindergarten, engage families in their school communities from the earliest ages, and support neighborhood friendships and peers. The district is working toward an inclusion model, with students being in their home schools to the greatest extent appropriate for each child.

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16. How is building utilization being calculated?

Building utilization is being calculated based on highest potential use for building spaces. Recognizing that this is an ideal number, we do not target 100% utilization of buildings. An ideal utilization is 85-90%.

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17. What happens if enrollment increases in the next few years?

Our enrollment forecast does not show enrollment increasing for at least 10 years. School districts go through a 20–25-year cycle of enrollment increases and decreases. In Bellevue, enrollment peaked in 1969 with over 24,000 students. Over the next 21 years, enrollment dropped to under 15,000 students. Enrollment then remained relatively flat until 2000 when it began increasing and peaked again in 2019 with 20,000 students. In the past, we closed schools and sold property. Currently, we are not planning on selling any property, but we are pausing construction of new school buildings in order to use current facilities more fully as enrollment declines.

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18. Why do we have to close three schools?

We have lost nearly 1,900 students in the last three years, which resulted in a $20 million drop in revenue. We have not yet felt the impact of this drop in revenue because the state has been funding all districts at pre-pandemic levels. However, in the 2023-2024 school year, the district will begin to be funded at the current enrollment levels.

There is a very strong relationship between school enrollment and the cost per pupil. We have relatively the same fixed costs at each school no matter the enrollment — a principal and assistant principal, an ITCL, a full-time librarian, a full-time counselor or counselors, grounds and building maintenance, utilities, etc. The cost per pupil at our elementary schools range from $7,100 to over $15,000.

State funding is based on the cost to run a 400-student elementary school. Small elementary schools are not financially sustainable with the current funding model and services. The district can go in one of two directions – we can cut services and supports in smaller schools or we can maintain student services and supports and reduce the number of elementary schools to match the elementary school enrollment. What is our priority – the location of the school building or the services and educational opportunities available to students when they are at school.

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19. Why is Phantom Lake being considered? In recent years their enrollment has been increasing.

Phantom Lake enrollment has remained relatively flat for the past 10 years. Phantom Lake has had the lowest enrollment in the district in 9 of those 10 years and is forecasted to remain flat for the foreseeable future. The cost of running smaller enrollment schools is not sustainable with current funding levels. As one of the smallest schools in the district, Phantom Lake is included in the analysis.

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20. What are the targets for average class sizes?

Target class sizes by grade level are included in the Bellevue Education Association bargaining agreement:

• Kindergarten – Class size target: 22
• First Grade – Class size target: 24
• Second Grade -Class size target: 24
• Third Grade – Class size target: 24
• Fourth Grade – Class size target: 27
• Fifth Grade – Class size target: 27

Split grade level class sizes shall not exceed these targets. Every effort will be made to meet the lower grade level target of the split class.

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21. What is the ideal size of an elementary school?

The ideal size of an elementary school is 3-4 classes per grade level, which is approximately 450-600 students.

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22. Why can’t we have smaller schools with smaller class sizes?

Washington state funding is based on the cost to run a 400-student elementary school. Small elementary schools are not financially sustainable given the current funding model and services. The district can go in one of two directions – we can cut services and supports in smaller schools or we can maintain student services and supports and reduce the number of elementary schools to match the elementary school enrollment. We must consider which is the greater priority – the location of the school building or the services and educational opportunities available to students when they are at school.

Current funding in Washington State does not support smaller schools and smaller class sizes. The district has been able to fund lower enrollment and smaller class sizes for the past two years because the legislature budgeted for school districts to have “hold-harmless” revenue. “Hold-harmless” revenue assumed that districts had not lost enrollment and calculated school district funding based on pre-pandemic enrollment data. In addition, the district has been utilizing federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds both in the previous year and for the current year. The state “hold-harmless” revenue goes away in the 2023-2024 school year and ESSER funds will only be available for one more year.

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23. Why does the district need to address the issue in such a quick timeline?

A significant downside to indecision on school consolidation is the angst students, staff, and families will experience as the process goes on. Once a decision is made, students, staff and families can focus on implementation and ensure that staff and families are fully engaged in the transition process.

Enrollment began declining during the pandemic. Initially, some forecasting models showed enrollment rebounding. The 2022-2023 is the first regular school year post-pandemic and unfortunately, enrollment is not returning to pre-pandemic levels. The district has been able to fund lower enrollment and smaller class sizes for the past two years because the legislature budgeted for school districts to have “hold-harmless” revenue. “Hold-harmless” revenue assumed that districts had not lost enrollment and calculated school district funding based on pre-pandemic enrollment data. In addition, the district has been utilizing federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds both in the previous year and for the current year. The state “hold-harmless” revenue goes away in the 2023-2024 school year and ESSER funds will only be available for one more year.

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24. What are the potential impacts to our students and families experiencing homelessness?

Students experiencing homelessness and their families would be given options regarding the schools they would like to attend. The district will support these choices.

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25. Is the Advanced Learning program being reviewed in the enrollment analysis?

All programs, including advanced learning, are part of the analysis. Depending on the decisions made, advanced learning programs could be relocated as well. 

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26. Why doesn’t the District sell unused District property to help offset the impact?

If the District sells property now, we will not be positioned to handle any future enrollment growth that may occur in 20-30 years. Selling district property provides one-time funds. School districts go through a 20–25-year cycles of enrollment increases and decreases. In Bellevue, we peaked enrollment in 1969 with over 24,000 students. Over the next 21 years enrollment dropped to under 15,000 students. Enrollment then remained relatively flat until 2000 when it began increasing and peaked in 2019 with 20,000 students.

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27. Why can’t the District close ESC and move central office staff into school buildings?

The district owns the ESC buildings. Moving central office staff into school buildings will not result in more revenue nor a reduction in operating expenses needed to remain financially solvent.

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28. What are the attrition trends in the district?

Attrition includes employee separations (retirement, resignation, termination)

Between 2014-2015 and 2021-2022, the average attrition rate was 9.28%.
Between 2014-2015 and 2020-2021, the average attrition rate at the 7 schools being considered for consolidation was 23.28%.

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29. What numbers were used to calculate enrollment?

Enrollment is based on October student count.

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30. Why are Medina, Clyde Hill and Bennett not being considered?

All elementary schools were assessed and given serious consideration. There are specific reasons why some schools are being considered while others are not. With respect to the schools listed above:

• Medina – The location of Medina Elementary is not conducive for use for another purpose in the district. In the State of Washington, if a school district does not use one of its facilities, it must make that facility available for other educational opportunities such as private schools and charter schools. If Medina was consolidated and the facility not able to be repurposed by the district, likely, a private school would take use of the facility which could further contribute to the district’s loss of enrollment.
• Clyde Hill – Another factor was whether nearby schools could take on additional enrollment. With respect to Clyde Hill, both nearest schools to Clyde Hill are too full to take on additional students.
• Bennett – The most reasonable schools for Bennett students to move into would be Ardmore and Sherwood Forest. If Bennett students were to move into either of these schools, Ardmore and Sherwood Forest would no longer qualify for Title I funding because the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch would decrease resulting in removing resources away from students.

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31. Why aren’t surrounding districts closing schools?

Other districts are currently using different approaches to reduce expenditures. Issaquah School District has cut $28 million in expenditures in the past 2 years and is planning to take an additional $21 million out of their budget in the 2023/2024 school year. Specific cuts can be found here: Issaquah SD 2022/2023 Budget Presentation Bellevue School District could decide to cut expenses by reducing services and supports for students and staff and not invest in innovative programming. However, this approach often leads to even greater losses in enrollment as families decide to pursue other education options that provide the service they need opting instead for private schools, open enrollment in other districts, charter schools, or home schooling.

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32. Will we have larger class sizes if schools are consolidated?

– See answer to question 11 above.

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33. What will happen to the Pacific program?

Families and staff of students with special needs are participating in focus groups to discuss educational opportunities for these students.

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34. How are we communicating and getting input from families for whom English is their second language?

Interpreters will be at all school open houses. Focus groups will be available for families with English as a second language. In addition, all materials on the district website and messages sent through direct message and text message to families are translated into the preferred language as indicated by families. All materials at open house will be printed in multiple languages.

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35. How will we ensure that families would still feel part of the community?

We have experienced boundary adjustments in the past and our schools have been tremendously supportive in going above and beyond to build community. Central office directors will support principals to lead this work, once the schools which are to be consolidated are identified.

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36. What’s the difference between Consolidation and Closure?

Consolidation is the blending of school communities into one school building. A closure is when a school building or facility is being closed for instructional purposes. When a school building or facility is being closed for instructional purposes, it may be leased, sold, or used for non-instructional purposes. An example of a school building that has been closed for instructional purposes is the Wilburton Instructional Service Center, which formally was a school and is now used for training and administrative purposes.

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37. Is the District following the law? What about policy and collective bargaining agreements?

Washington law requires school districts to have a policy for when a recommendation has been made to close schools for instructional purposes, RCW 28A.335.020: School closures—Policy of citizen involvement required—Summary of effects—Hearings—Notice. (wa.gov). Consistent with this law, the district has Policy 6883, Closure of Facilities 6883.pdf (bsd405.org). At this time, the district is engaging with the community before any recommendations are made to the school board to consolidate schools and/or close schools/facilities for instructional purposes. This engagement is not intended to substitute for the requirements of the law and is instead is being done to inform and shape the recommendations. The District also recognizes that it has legal obligations to its staff that are separate from the law and policy on closing schools/facilities for instructional purposes. Depending on what the recommendations are, the District will follow all relevant laws, policies, and collective bargaining agreements. This FAQ answer will be updated when the recommendations have been made, as what they will impact what steps will be taken to ensure legal compliance.

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38: Does RCW 28A.335.020 apply to the district’s reconsolidation plan?

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39: Have we dropped below the 400-student elementary school average of the state’s “prototypical model?”

Based on October 2022 enrolment data, the average elementary school enrollment is 412.

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40: What is the plan for Big Picture School?

The plan is to repurpose a consolidated school for Big Picture.

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41: What happens with the Microsoft Showcase designation at Wilburton Elementary if Wilburton becomes consolidated?

Incoming Superintendent, Dr. Aramaki, reached out to Microsoft directly about this topic. Microsoft expressed their support of the district in making necessary decisions regarding budget and addressing the budget shortfall. They assured the district that any BSD school can apply for Microsoft Showcase status, whether it is a new school in the current Wilburton building or another school in the district. Their preference is for a secondary school; however, they are open to an elementary school applying for Showcase status.

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42: What strategies are used to keep the community informed?

The district has been sending direct messages to impacted families on a regular basis, through email and text messages. In addition, the district is keeping the website updated with new information that is updated weekly and/or as information is available.

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43: If the recommendation to consolidate schools is approved, will it still require the district to make additional budget cuts?

Yes, consolidation provides a reduction in expenditures of $3.1 million per school. The difference between revenue and expenditure is approximately $30 million.

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44. Who will decide whether to use the minimum fund balance the district reserves?

The Superintendent will make that decision to an extent. If the planned use of reserves takes the amount below the percentage required by Board policy, the Board will decide if they will approve a budget that uses reserves to the necessary extent, thereby waiving the policy for that year.

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45: Why did the district not suggest housing the Heritage Language Program at Eastgate Elementary?

The district felt that Ardmore is the best location for the program because most of the families enrolled in the Arabic Heritage Language live in the north end of Bellevue or in cities north of Bellevue (e.g., Kirkland, Redmond and Bothell).

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46. What about House Bill 1110 regarding increasing zoning density?

House Bill 1110, increasing middle housing in areas traditionally zoned to single-family detached housing, passed in the Washington State House, but the bill still needs to pass in the Senate. It is anticipated that any impacts from the legislation will not impact the district for another 3-5 years.

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47. How many staff will be impacted if the recommendation is approved?

The number of staff impacted will vary based on which option the Board considers most feasible when they consider the proposal to consolidate school buildings. In addition, natural attrition — educators leaving the District for retirement and other reasons – are expected to minimize the need for a reduction in force.

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48. Why is consolidating two schools believed to be fiscally responsible? Why is Ardmore no longer being considered?

The District is addressing its funding shortfall in multiple ways: creating programs and opportunities to increase enrollment, making spending reductions throughout the District, using fund balance or savings, and consolidating lower enrollment schools. If these lower enrollment schools are not consolidated, the District has proposed dropping the fund balance below the recommended minimum and further reducing spending via reductions in central office, operations, and school buildings through programs and services.

Ardmore was removed for consideration in the March 9 updated recommendation based on the equity analysis completed by the District. Ardmore has traditionally been a Title I school with a larger proportion of historically marginalized students and students experiencing poverty. In addition, Ardmore is ideally located to absorb the Arabic Heritage Language program that will also welcome students from other nearby districts, many of whom live in the north end of Bellevue or in cities north of Bellevue (e.g., Kirkland, Redmond and Bothell).

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49. Can the District still consider one of the other seven schools originally proposed for consolidation? Why can’t one of the other four schools be considered?

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50. What will happen to current class sizes if schools are consolidated?

Class size targets are stipulated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the District and the Bellevue Teachers Association (BEA). We will continue to allocate staffing aligned with the targets outlined in the CBA.

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51. As we approach the Thursday, March 16, Board Meeting and the Board deliberates the three scenarios presented, will the needs of the three choice schools be considered?

The District has considered the facility needs for the three choice schools. If the Board decides to proceed with the consolidation, the District will have facility options for Big Picture and Jing Mei. If the Board does not move forward with the consolidation, opportunity to build new facilities for these programs must be discussed.

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52. How many staff may be affected by program cuts? Is it a one-time-only occurrence?

Using the fund balance allows us to have fewer reductions. However, using the fund balance to pay ongoing expenses is like using a savings account to pay rent or mortgage. Eventually, it will run out. So, as we move into the 2024-2025 school year and beyond, we will need to continue to reduce ongoing expenditures to cover what we covered with the District’s savings account as well as the additional impact of continued lower enrollment, which is forecasted for the foreseeable future.

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53. How do we implement new and exciting initiatives if people who do that work are part of the reduction (e.g., the continued development of the Heritage Language program)?

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54. When will there be changes to government funding Special Education programs or other changes that will help our financial strain?

The state legislature is currently in session. April 4 is the fiscal cut off for bills, and budget development will be the focus until the legislature adjourns on April 23. The current bills focused on increasing state funding of special education services will provide the District with less than an additional $2 million per year. The gap between state-provided special education funding and special education costs for BSD is $26 million. This money comes from our local levy. However, most believe this is the responsibility of the federal and state government, both of which underfund special education.

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55. What programs are impacted if we cut programs and central office?

Identifying all the program costs that could be impacted and spending priorities is currently underway. This process is complex and involves people throughout the organization and community.

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56. What about the long bus ride for students that will result from the current recommendation?

The recommended consolidations could add 10-15 minutes to a student’s bus ride. The actual length of a student’s bus ride depends on several factors beyond distance, including the number and location of the stops to “fill” the bus. Data is not yet available to fully understand the impact on the length of the ride. In some instances, despite the long distance, the ride may be shorter with fewer or more centrally located stops.

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57. How are we spending the remaining ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds?

ESSER Funds are spent on co-teachers, the Mental Health Assistance Team (MHAT) program, and tutors. These funds will be spent in their entirety and will no longer be available for the 2024-2025 school year.

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58. Why is the District concerned about elementary schools with fewer than 400 students?

The Washington State K-12 funding model assumes an elementary school will have 400 students. For example, each elementary school has a full-time principal and assistant principal, a full-time librarian, and a full-time counselor. The funding model provides 1.253 administrators, 0.66 librarians, and 0.66 counselors for 400 students. The local levy taxes fund any differences between the funding model and actual staffing. For an elementary school with 400 students, that difference is between $600,000 and $830,000. As elementary enrollment in a school drops below 400 students, this gap in funding grows. For example, if an elementary school has only 300 students, the funding gap rises from $780,000 to over $1,000,000 per school.

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59. Has the BSD ever closed schools before?

District records show that between 1978 and 1987, the District closed 12 schools (9 elementary and three middle/junior high schools). The conversion of junior high schools to middle schools occurred between 1983 and 1985. The cited reasons for these closures were declining enrollment, which included a reduction in birth rates, out-migration from the region, and increasing enrollment in private schools.

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