'It's going to be a rough transition'; Washington schools grapple with looming budget crisis

Local schools are warning of a looming budget crisis. Whether it's layoffs or consolidations—everything seems to be on the table at districts across Western Washington.

In Kent, the last major vote for schools was the 2016 bond, which was approved by voters, and it funded multiple projects.

It's worth more than $200 million.

The district added new classrooms and built two new elementary schools.

For the next bond, Kent School District put out a message saying while things are safe for the coming school year, they will begin planning to leave positions vacant, with an eye to the future.

That comes after the Everett School District says it is facing a $28 million budget, and expects to slash roughly 140 jobs between now and next school year. In Olympia, the school district is looking at a $17 million deficit—consolidation of a school is one possibility that’s been floated recently by the school board.

In a similar vein, Bellevue is consolidating—a move it made after a predicted $31 million shortfall for that district.

It's a reminder of just how personal this is for parents, kids and teachers.

At this week's board meeting, the decision came down to move kids out of both Eastgate and Wilburton elementary schools, and many were not happy. Board members were also emotional.

"It’s going to be a rough transition," a member testified. "My thing is, how do we do the least amount of harm to our kids? I saw my daughter’s teacher. It’s going to be a tough day for them."

Many schools are facing a similar situation, whether it's right now, or in the near future.

While each school has their own individual reasons, we’re seeing some big issues in many of these districts:

  1. Declining enrollment
  2. Lack of state funding
  3. Record inflation

RELATED: Bellevue school board votes to consolidate 2 elementary schools due to low enrollment

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Kent School District is hosting bond presentations. Anyone is welcome to come and ask questions. The next will be this Thursday at Mill Creek Middle School in the library. That event starts at 6 p.m.

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