Most low-income Bellevue children back in preschool, but for how long? | Organizations grappling with sustainable solution

Published 11:33 am Thursday, October 20, 2016

More than 125 free and reduced tuition pre-school spots lost earlier this year after funding was pulled have been restored through public and private donors, but the Bellevue School District and schools foundation are uncertain how to keep the momentum going for the next four years.

The Bellevue Schools Foundation revealed the impact of the community’s support during an Oct. 13 open house.

“You look around at the community, and it’s very inspiring that people were willing and able to step up,” foundation President Lynn Juniel said. “The ‘lemonade’ in this situation for me is that it has heightened awareness. It has been a rallying cry for many in the community.”

In June, officials were informed that the 151 Head Start-funded seats — originally produced by a long-standing grant totalling $950,000 — had been cut. The money allowed children from low-income families to attend preschool for free or on reduced tuition.

Most of the low-income children affected by the cut are now back in the classroom. Over the last few months, money from a school district budget reserve, the schools foundation and multiple public and private donors has been gathered to support 129 of the lost 151 spots.

However, the lost grant provided money over a five-year time period. The donations and other money reallocated to cover the costs of Bellevue preschool were largely one-time donations.

The schools foundation brought in nearly $2.1 million in revenue in the last fiscal year, but Juniel said that it will be a long time before they have the budget to allocate the nearly $1 million needed for pre-school. The school district’s revenue increased by nearly $15 million in 2015-2016 over the previous year and bolstered the district’s reserves to top $20 million. But, a significant portion of their revenue comes from levy dollars, and the district is proceeding cautiously as the Legislature grapples with the McCleary decision.

Meanwhile, the mandate for the state to fully fund preschool education doesn’t take effect until 2020.

More than a dozen parents of the impacted children testified in front of the Puget Sound Educational Service District in August, and the schools foundation has had further conversations with the agency, Juniel said. The agency has stated that they are unable to replace the lost funding.

Moving forward, the schools foundation and district are creating a task force to seek sustainable solutions for preschool funding. They held their first meeting this week.

“It does go deeper than dollars. It goes to what the Bellevue community is, how we want it to look. Diversity is so important to Bellevue, and this is an extension of that. We want to make sure that families that value education and work hard to get their children to a place where they can get quality education can fulfill that dream of theirs and aren’t forced to leave the community they call home,” Juniel said.