[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6278130,"mediaKeyId","2642802-2e16d90b0376c94b3b95eea377ba2590","parentId",2642802,"title","Bellevue students and robotics teams thank district support; PTSA urges parents to push for state funding bills","audioSeconds",697,"startMs",1043000,"endMs",1740000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2642802-2e16d90b0376c94b3b95eea377ba2590&start=1043&end=1740","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2642802-2e16d90b0376c94b3b95eea377ba2590/thumbnail_1043000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6278130/Washington/Bellevue-students-and-robotics-teams-thank-district-support-PTSA-urges-parents-to-push-for-state-funding-bills","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6278130-4338a3b386ed180b0847fce6ccb25c9c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770426271&Signature=Lb9lC3yk-jZKKsZGXQCmaZ7SxgyZLM9xAtkGWHqdPe73i3msP5wGHE7Buttch-Gt-Kem~I5hwfZzB2dq21b9ZxUeILBiA~ClGRihkZK3myll9Ks6MgnifpHltwdahSefb6xHkN8wmatN6mpN9~CFFFFu1jDt0gbtDTYfkRn4qNvQzy6ryQsmM-LEn0WsPSnI0mzAyZbQ7Vr5c37NLo6EaREDuwgaDzNKx~UyyXxl3NJUS~x31JGr-lD-r6MSCpAYyGAravadeGRxtl7SaLVJuCYULYnyb5dwzsvToc6fQ~ZrezGnXW70C68t2RI6tbzeFcwPTKmZPMB5mer35BVcGA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Bellevue School District, Washington","date","2025-03-14T15:39:15Z","article","Several student-led robotics teams and mentors delivered public comments at the Bellevue School District Board meeting on March 13, thanking the district and Bellevue Schools Foundation for support and reporting competitive successes from a recent Sammamish-hosted district event.

Representatives of Sammamish’s 2412 RoboTotes, Newport Robotics Group (NRG 948), Bellevue Heights Robotics and mentors from Sammamish High School described hosting 32 FRC teams and 15 FLL/FTC teams at the competition, noted award wins and advances to later rounds, and credited school and foundation support for making participation possible. Sammamish’s RoboTotes said they won the Impact Award; Newport said it earned an Excellence in Engineering award; Bellevue Heights said the team reached finals for the first time since 2008.

“...we were third in qualifiers, and we were second Alliance captain... we also won the Impact Award, which basically recognizes sustained excellence and impact within the FRC community,” said a Sammamish team representative for the RoboTotes (public comment speakers identified in the meeting as Ian, Indu, Sabella and team members).

Mentors and advocates emphasized robotics as a collaborative, sportsmanlike activity and pointed out students’ civic engagement: mentors said Bellevue teams had students travelling to Olympia to advocate for school funding and meet with legislators.

Online public comment by Christy Swessinger, Bellevue PTSA Council advocacy director, focused on state funding and legislative priorities. Swessinger told the board that Bellevue has a cumulative funding gap since 2020 and urged community members to engage with two bills she said have advanced in the Senate and are in the House: cited in the meeting as “Senate bills 5,263 and 5,192.” Swessinger said the measures could deliver an estimated $7 million to $10 million to Bellevue if they pass, and she urged people to sign in favor or submit written testimony and to attend upcoming town halls hosted by local legislators. Swessinger directed listeners to wak12.org for action alerts.

The board received the comments during the public-comment period and acknowledged student achievements and the role of the Bellevue Schools Foundation and volunteers in supporting extracurricular programs. Several directors later referenced the robotics teams as examples of activities they sought to protect while discussing the district’s spending-reduction plan.

No formal board action followed directly from the public comments; the district’s budget discussion and vote occurred later in the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Regular BSD Board Meeting March 13, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Students and mentors from Bellevue-area robotics teams reported competition successes and thanked district and foundation support; Bellevue PTSA Council urged families to lobby for two state bills that could bring millions to the district.","taxTitle","Bellevue School District, School Districts, Washington","taxId",13035,"location","Washington","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6278135,"Bellevue School Board approves $20M–$24M spending-reduction plan to shore up district fund balance",1846,1750000,3596000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2642802-2e16d90b0376c94b3b95eea377ba2590&start=1750&end=3596","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2642802-2e16d90b0376c94b3b95eea377ba2590/thumbnail_1750000.jpg","/articles/6278135/Washington/Bellevue-School-Board-approves-20M24M-spending-reduction-plan-to-shore-up-district-fund-balance","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6278135-0ede2a014bc91c34811764665cca51cf/orig.mp4?Expires=1770426271&Signature=LQ5jRhZm14epxGdgcL7OU0zO5LZZR9VEstWc5cwxeqnGt6HLne35gRWPINHjYtcK1UTJNm8vEeMLjPQlsXKH0p2mXqKQbxEQVZ2xcQFhEVe61zS-x0vkflCalUnasaD4ASIYkvHC4~jkwW4zBfFLod2pUHVVJ8ZO2W1yQAxYuNKF1deI4F8Za5yMlR1e0ISB~rIdf5DI5Z0xFaRmg~j5PKHwU1cTavT51k0dCf31qJSyx~GQRjLdkbYpRXBhYqhg4TJBxnSV7IJduSr--ffjPLMe8BlqFd4c6bkPUExyfrE~F54p3sSEqm6iQ3WhKiiVaSzVuvAuIFXlcDX2WqtPcg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Bellevue School District Board of Directors voted 5-0 on March 13 to approve Superintendent Kelly Aramaki’s spending-reduction plan, a set of measures intended to avert a projected negative year-end fund balance and restore the district’s savings.

The board’s unanimous roll-call vote came after Aramaki and senior staff laid out a multi-month community engagement process and multiple scenarios that would reduce next year’s operating expenditures by an estimated $20 million to $24 million.

District leaders said the cuts respond to declining ending fund balances, the end of federal COVID-era ESSER funding, rising operating costs and limited state revenue. Aramaki described the district as “in a pretty dire budget situation,” citing a multi-year erosion of savings that, without action, would leave the district unable to guarantee payroll and other obligations.

The plan uses a mix of central-office reductions, changes to ESSER-funded positions and school-based staffing adjustments. Superintendent Aramaki told the board the proposal’s components include central-office savings of roughly $6.1 million to $6.8 million, reductions to ESSER-funded investments of about $3.2 million to $3.5 million, and school-based reductions in the range of $10.4 million to $13.8 million, for total projected savings of $20 million to $24 million.

Specifics discussed by staff and directors:
- Central office: a cut at the high end of the previously proposed range for cabinet and director-level positions (7–8 positions targeted).
- ESSER-funded positions: preservation of five mental-health counselors while cutting an estimated net 14.5 ESSER-funded counselor FTEs overall; family engagement specialists reduced from 10 to 6.
- School-based staffing: reductions to assistant-principal allocations primarily at elementary schools with fewer than 700 students (with exceptions, including maintaining a full-time assistant principal at Tillicum Middle School); the proposal notes about 14 assistant-principal reductions at the elementary level.
- Transportation: bell-time adjustments intended to yield roughly $200,000 in fuel savings.

Aramaki emphasized what the plan protects: the district will keep the seven-period day and elective offerings, AB/AP/IB classes, advanced-learning services, career and technical education, language and choice-school programs, elementary specialists (library, art, music, PE) and elementary counselors. Nursing positions were also retained in the revised plan.

Aramaki told the board the district’s restoration priorities, should the Legislature provide new funding, would be (1) restoring the ending fund balance (he said getting back to at least $20 million is essential so the district can pay bills), (2) school-based staffing and classrooms, (3) student behavior and mental-health supports, (4) strategic-plan investments and (5) operations.

Board members repeatedly framed the cuts as driven by state funding shortfalls and structural constraints: Aramaki and directors noted that not all local property-tax dollars return to Bellevue, that capital and bond funds are restricted to facilities and cannot be used for operating costs, and that the state’s prototypical funding model underfunds several categories (special education, mental-health supports and some administrative positions).

Aramaki and other speakers highlighted two state bills the district is tracking that could affect Bellevue’s finances if enacted as passed in the Senate: Senate Bill 5,263 (identified in the meeting as a special-education bill the superintendent said would bring roughly $5 million annually) and Senate Bill 5,192 (described as funding for materials, supplies and operations that could deliver about $2.5 million). Together the superintendent and public commenters estimated those measures could bring roughly $7.5 million to the district if they pass the House and are signed by the governor; district staff and the board urged community advocacy for the measures.

During discussion board members pressed for regular reporting on how cuts affect students and staff and asked staff to return with details about how the reductions will be implemented and which specific positions will be affected. Directors also expressed concern about the human toll of layoffs and workload increases: the superintendent acknowledged the plan could affect roughly 150 jobs, noting each position represents a person and a family.

A roll-call vote followed a period for limited director discussion. The board recorded the following votes: Director Block — yes; President Carolyn Watson — yes; Director Rogan — yes; Director Webster — yes; Director Arras — yes. The motion passed 5-0.

Board members said the plan reflected revisions made after public feedback, including restoring some school-based mental-health capacity and family-engagement staff. Aramaki said the district developed the plan in two phases (community input in January; feedback and revision in February) and then refined it again in the days before the March 13 meeting.

In closing remarks during the director discussion period, Director Rogan announced plans to step down from the board in the coming weeks; he said the timing felt appropriate after the board approved the spending-reduction plan. The board did not take further action related to that announcement at the meeting.

What happens next: the board directed staff to return with a revised organizational chart and implementation details after spring break, to share timelines for layoffs or reassignments, and to provide periodic updates to the board on the effects of reductions and on outreach to community partners and legislators.

Votes at a glance
The board approved the superintendent’s spending-reduction plan to reduce operating expenditures by an estimated $20,000,000 to $24,000,000 for fiscal 2025–26. Roll-call vote: 5–0 (Block, Watson, Rogan, Webster, Arras — yes).","The Bellevue School District board voted 5-0 to approve a plan that trims $20 million to $24 million from next year’s budget, cutting central-office positions, ESSER-funded roles and school-based staff while preserving core programs and some mental-health services.","actionData","errors"]

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Bellevue students and robotics teams thank district support; PTSA urges parents to push for state funding bills

Bellevue School Board approves $20M–$24M spending-reduction plan to shore up district fund balance