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