At public comment, Bellevue School District teachers, students, parents and community partners urged the board to prioritize programs and staff that serve vulnerable and high-need students as the district navigates budget reductions.

Speakers described programs at capacity, student learning and safety concerns, and the emotional impact of staff non-continuing notices. "These kids... are going to class. They are completing their education. They are using an alternative pathway to be successful," said Catherine Stein, a board member of the student engagement board, describing the Rise program (run by Glenn Haslinger at Highland Middle School) and urging funding to expand capacity. Stein said the Rise program is currently overcapacity, leaving staff with "hands tied" to refer students who need an alternative pathway.

Highland Middle School teacher Melissa Taylor urged the board to prioritize reducing class sizes and caseload targets in the district's financial recovery plan. Taylor said she taught 70 bilingual seventh-grade students across three sections this year and that next year her students would be consolidated into two sections of 35students each"14 students over our collective bargaining agreement class size target." She said the change would reduce opportunities for family contact, differentiated instruction and culturally responsive lessons.

Several speakers put a human face on staffing decisions. A teacher from Newport High School, speaking through a colleague, said he had been told he will not return next year because of funding, and described crying with colleagues and students. "I felt I was being kicked out of a place that I had started thinking of as a home," he said.

Student performers said cuts have hit performing arts. Annette Williamson, a senior at Sammamish High School speaking for the Art Student Coalition, said many performances and festivals were canceled this year, instrumentation is in disrepair and teacher losses have increased inequity across schools.

Speakers also raised equity and civil-rights concerns tied to program cuts. Mario Palacios and Joe Suresh of the MLL (multilingual learners) department said the newcomer navigator rolewhich provides intake, case management and family support for students new to the countryembodies district budget-parameter goals for equitable support; they questioned why that position was being cut while advanced-learning programs were preserved. Parent and longtime volunteer Amy Lennox warned that cuts can disproportionately harm students with disabilities if inclusion is not implemented with proper investment and fidelity. She urged the board to ask how inclusion will be staffed and monitored when changes occur.

Separately, Somerset Elementary parent Naomi James urged the board to reconsider a proposed earlier 8:05 a.m. start time for Somerset because of safety concerns for students who walk to bus stops along roads without sidewalks and with inconsistent snow/ice clearance.

District staff and the superintendent had discussed the broader budget picture earlier in the meeting; Dr. Heather Sanchez noted several pieces of pending state legislation and that the district will provide an interfund-loan briefing during the board business portion of the meeting. Board members said they will continue budget study sessions and asked staff to post detailed financial reports.

Public commenters asked the board for concrete funding commitments and clearer plans for how the district will prevent disproportionate impacts on marginalized students as it balances its budget.