Website updates are on pause as we prepare for the new legislative session in the fall. Regionalization will be a top priority and we hope you’ll support our efforts on behalf of our children, teachers and school community.

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Our Island Students & Teachers are as important as Seattle’s. Help us send that message to our legislators in Olympia.

In 2018 the Washington State Legislature changed the formula used to determine state funding for school districts. Those changes were detrimental to San Juan County Island Schools, Whidbey Island Schools, Coupeville Schools and other island schools whose budgets were negatively and significantly impacted. Our legislators need to make things fair and equitable for our island students by lifting the levy lid and increasing regionalization. How they regionalize us has to be made fair because it determines what we receive to spend on teachers’ salaries. Unfair regionalization costs each district hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

In March, we received word from Representative Ramel that the enrichment levy expansion bill (which would have lifted the levy lid), HB 1244 did not make the deadline for bills to pass the house of origin. You can read the details here. We thank supporters of House Bill 1244 for their efforts. *Ramel, Bergquist, Peterson, Ortiz-Self, Stonier, Lekanoff, Slatter, Hackney, Entenman, Simmons, Senn, Reeves, Reed, Duerr, Doglio, Pollet, Alvarado, Gregerson


In spite of this news, we continue to ask for your support in keeping the pressure on the legislators as we enter the critical weeks of budget-writing in Olympia and going forward.   Please consider signing our petition (now with over 1,000 signatures and a goal of reaching 2,000 signatures) and contacting the listed legislators to share your opinion regarding fair and equitable funding for the island school districts. 

Read more on the issues below.

In Their Own Words.

Our teachers and staff share the challenges of affording to work for schools on our remote San Juan Islands.

HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION

The key legislative components we must tackle NOW to save our schools are Regionalization and Lifting the Levy Lid. We need all island voices to take a few minutes to stand with us. Here’s what we need you to do:

  1. Get informed. Read the issues on this site.

  2. Reach out to key senators and representatives. Find their information further down this page. We have sample letters or postcard statements on this site to make that task easier.

  3. Sign our support petition. It only takes a second.

  • WATER MATTERS: INCREASE OUR REGIONALIZATION RATE

    The amount of money a district receives for teachers differs greatly based on where you live in the state. Every district has been assigned a regionalization rate based on housing values in their area. In 2018, legislators decided to not count the water between the mainland and island like those in the San Juan County or Whidbey; therefore, we were “regionalized” with mainland districts, such as Mt. Vernon. Olympia does not understand it costs more for teachers to live in places like San Juan County. We were regionalized with mainland districts whose median home prices are almost half of the median home prices for the San Juan Islands. The regionalization rate should be re-calculated more fairly to enable our island schools to afford, retain and recruit teachers, which is more costly for our remote and rural island schools.

  • RESPECT OUR VOTERS' VOICES: LIFT THE LEVY LID!

    The supportive voters of Orcas, San Juan Island, and Lopez have consistently voted to pass levies to help our schools. Thank you! The fact is the state does not fully fund our schools, so levy funds have made up the difference. However, new legislation has capped our levies, which means we cannot access the funds our voters approved. As an example, the current Levy Lid for schools in the San Juan Islands is capped at $2,741 per student. Seattle Public Schools receive $3,290 per student from their levies. A difference of $549. Lifting the Levy Lid could increase our school districts' revenue by upwards of $436,754 per year. By spending money on lobbyists to help them, Seattle Public Schools were able to lift their levy lids. We are engaging our citizens to help us lift the lid because we think our kids and teachers deserve to be treated as well as Seattle students.

“Please sign our petition and reach out to the legislators above. You can find letters by other citizens here to inspire you! We appreciate you.”

We are asking caring citizens to write emails directly to the senators and reps who can make a difference for our island children and teachers. Alternatively, you can pick up a postcard at your district office or request postcards from Orcas Island School Board Legislative rep Bridget Broderick.

Sample postcard messaging for teacher:

Dear ____________,

I teach for [insert district]. I love my job and my students. If the current regionalization rate and the levy lid limit does not change, I am deeply concerned about how I will continue to live viably on an island with an above-average cost of living.

Sincerely,

Name

Sample postcard messaging for parents & citizens:

Dear ____________,

I live on [insert island here] and support our school district. If the current regionalization rate and the levy lid limit does not change, I am deeply concerned about how our district will continue to fund itself and recruit and retain teachers.

Sincerely,

Name

What’s at the core of the problem?

Learn better by watching videos? This video does a great job of outlining the issues simply, helping highlight some of the issues our San Juan Islands schools experience as remote and rural or small districts.