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District outlines 2026 legislative priorities and previews October funding forum
Summary
Yakima School District staff presented draft 2026 legislative priorities — local revenue equity/system finance reform, full special education funding, an "MSOC plus" grouping (transportation with other MSOCs), and updates to a gaps-in-funding document — and announced an Oct. 30 community session on school funding with OSPI and University of Washington speakers.
At the Oct. 6 meeting, district staff presented draft legislative priorities for the 2026 session and invited board feedback before finalizing the document. Martha Fitter explained the district’s intended focus areas: local revenue equity and system finance reform (including LEA and levy lid guardrail impacts), a continued request for full funding of special education and substitute coverage costs, combining transportation with MSOC funding into an "MSOC plus" category, and revising the district's gaps-in-funding analysis to illustrate local impacts.
Superintendent Doctor Green and staff framed the priorities as a continuation of recent advocacy work and said the materials are in BoardDocs for review. Doctor Green also announced a community session, the second annual "navigating public education funding" event, set for Oct. 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Davis High School Performing Arts Center. Doctor Green said the forum will include speakers from OSPI and the University of Washington and is intended to help residents understand how property values and legislative decisions affect district funding.
CFO Jay Cooper reviewed comparative bond histories for top districts, noting Yakima had not run a capital bond in the timeframe covered on the slide deck and that the district’s facility conditions reflect that long interval without a capital measure. Cooper and other speakers discussed voter behavior in recent bond cycles and emphasized the complexity of passing supermajority bond measures in Washington.
