Budget Work Session & Public Hearing
As school districts across Washington continue to face funding gaps that affect students and classrooms, Highline's financial outlook remains steady. We are preparing our budget for the 2025-26 school year and expects no major cuts next year, thanks to steady enrollment and budget reductions taken in previous years.
While the state's new two-year budget includes some increased investments in areas like special education and operational costs, school districts across the state continue to face substantial funding gaps from the state. A local levy fills the state funding gap in Highline.
Throughout this school year, we have led a transparent, community-centered process to develop the 2025-26 budget. This has included the use of multiple ThoughtExchanges, an online tool community members can share and rate ideas, along with monthly updates at school board meetings. Additionally, collaboration and input were received from the Family Action Committee and Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team. We also provided ongoing updates through our website, internal communications, and external family email newsletter.
The Highline School Board will hold a work session to review the proposed budget, and a public hearing for community members to provide input and make comments.
Join us to learn more and share your feedback.
Budget Presentation – Work Session
Thursday, June 12
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Public Comment – Public Hearing
Wednesday, June 25
4:15 - 4:45 p.m.
All school board meetings are held at the Central Administration Building, 15675 Ambaum Boulevard SW in Burien. All regular board business meetings, work sessions and public hearings are public. Everyone is encouraged to attend or watch online.
Budget Development Process
We’ve shared budget updates throughout the year to keep families, staff and community members informed about our budget development process. Here’s a look at what we’ve shared so far:
- October: We shared student enrollment is higher than projected—marking the first time since 2018 that enrollment has not decreased. Enrollment numbers are a critical factor in state funding and play a key role in our budget planning.
- November: We highlighted Highline’s advocacy for increased state funding in three areas. Our 2025 legislative priorities focus on securing essential resources for students and schools.
- December: The School Board held a work session on the budget development process. We also shared that we do not anticipate additional reductions in the 2025-26 budget after eliminating $8 million from our district budget for the 2024-25 school year and steady enrollment.
- January: Superintendent Ivan Duran co-authored an editorial in The Seattle Times urging lawmakers to address Washington’s K-12 education funding crisis. We also shared our enrollment projections for next school year.
- February: We shared the results of our Budget ThoughtExchange. More than 330 ideas were shared, with nearly 13,000 ratings by 360 participants. Our community's top priorities include competitive wages for educators, smaller class sizes, increased support for special education and inclusion, expanded mental health services, and advocacy for full state and federal funding.
- March: The School Board held a work session on Wednesday, March 5 about the budget development process. We also asked our community how we should best allocate our resources for our key priorities through a ThoughtExchange.
- April: We shared the results of our ThoughtExchange. More than 265 ideas were shared across four exchanges, with nearly 5,400 ratings by 332 participants. A strong majority of 78% of participants reported they know at least a little bit about the development process, up from 69% in January.
- May: Highline received a positive financial state audit. We also shared the impacts of the new state budget, which continues to underfund key areas including special education, operational costs and transportation.