Parents and board urge clearer staffing counts, oppose routine split classes; board highlights push to lift state special‑education funding cap

Multiple parents and a teacher used public comment to urge the Vancouver Public Schools board to change how it counts staff for budgetary staffing decisions, to limit split classes and to better support students academically.

In public comment, Megan Formell, a dual‑language first‑ and second‑grade teacher at Sarah J. Anderson, asked the board to avoid using projected staffing numbers when determining certificated staff cuts. “When we did that last year, a lot of teachers that were working in buildings lost their jobs but weren't considered cuts, because they hadn't been hired from their first projected numbers,” Formell said, and urged that cuts be counted against the actual certificated staff working in buildings. She also said split grades should be used only as a last resort, noting the differences in curricular expectations between first and second grade.

Parent commenters echoed concerns about students falling behind and the adequacy of current district supports. Heather Vian, who identified herself as a parent, said roughly half of the district’s students are “one to two grades behind” (her phrasing) and described existing online study sessions and tutoring as insufficient, noting access barriers including unreliable internet and devices. She urged greater parent inclusion in planning and said the district’s equity policy should not be used to exclude parents from problem solving.

At the same time, several board members reported on a recent legislative conference and said the board plans to press legislators on long‑standing funding concerns. One director said a key legislative priority is removal of a state reimbursement cap for special education that currently limits state funding to services for up to 16% of a district’s students; any share above that cap is not fully reimbursed by the state and must be covered locally. The director said she will be contacting the district’s legislators to advocate for lifting the cap.

Board members also described recent community advisory visits to schools that included classroom observations and debriefs, and they praised teaching and learning work happening in district classrooms.

Ending: Board members asked community members to contact their state representatives if they want to weigh in on legislative priorities and said the district will notify board members if testimony is needed during the legislative session.