This year’s legislative session ended on time after 105 days. It’s been described as unique, historic, surprising, and consequential. Despite economic concerns about our state revenue last summer and fall, and uncertainty about how the Legislature would run its process to hear and pass bills in a mostly virtual manner, some significant bills passed and the final budgets boosted spending on many different programs.
According to the Washington State Wire,
“335 bills passed the Legislature in 2021. Democrats passed 266 (79.4%) and Republicans passed 69 (20.6%). Of the 335 total bills that passed, 24 bills (7.1%) squeaked through on party line votes. According to records maintained by the Office
of Program Research, the 335 total will be the lowest number for an odd year, 105 day session since at least 1983.”
At the beginning of this session, House Democrats had four priorities for bills they wanted to pass, including those related to racial equity and social justice, climate change, economic recovery and tax reform, and responses to COVID–19. Big policy
bills related to each of these areas passed both houses. Because tax collections and future revenue forecasts were strong, along with a massive influx of federal funding, the Legislature was able to fund many programs. For more information on the
variety of bills that passed, check out this article from The Seattle Times or this article from Governor Inslee.
Education Funding
As part of the education community, our goal was to make sure school districts could support immediate student needs by having stable enrollment and transportation funding. We wanted to ensure funding was in place for costs related to safety needs, including
additional staffing that could support student mental health. We also stressed the immediate needs for equitable access to technology resources, including devices and broadband connectivity, as well as for staff to continue engaging in professional
learning related to both racial literacy and successfully engaging students in online learning.
This year’s operating budget addressed many important priorities for students. Superintendent Chris Reykdal said in his news release that “the
budget shows strong support for students, families, and schools.”
As of this writing, Governor Inslee has not yet signed the final budget (SB 5092), but here are some budget highlights. If you want
a really thorough look into the supplemental, operating, and capital budgets, check out Dan Steele’s Sine Die edition of This Week in Olympia (TWIO). A huge thank you to Dan and others at WASA, WASBO, OSPI, and the ESDs who work tirelessly to help make sense of a very complicated K–12 funding structure.
K–12 Education Increases
Federal ESSER Grants – $1.74 Billion (2021–23).
$1.67 billion of federal funding allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and $74.2 million of federal funding allocated by the Coronavirus Response and Relief
Supplemental Appropriations Act is provided to assist school districts with response to the COVID–19 pandemic. For a look at how much federal funding your district receives, check out OSPI’s Budget Preparations page.
Enrollment Stabilization – $95.9 million (2021 supplemental), $27.8 million (2021–23).
One-time funding is provided for enrollment stabilization in the 2020–21 school year. State stabilization amounts are provided
to local education agencies that do not receive sufficient subgrants from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund to offset reductions to state revenues due to drops in enrollments from the 2019–20 school year.
Transportation Stabilization – $117.1 million (2021 supplemental), $34.0 million (2021–23).
One-time funding is provided for one-time pupil transportation payments to school districts to address lower pupil transportation
payments for the 2020–21 school year.
School Funding Stabilization – $16.2 million (2021–23).
One-time funding is provided to ensure school districts receive at least $500 per pupil for COVID–19 relief funding when combined with federal relief dollars.
Learning Recovery – $23.4 million (2021–23).
One-time funding is provided to OSPI to administer grants to school districts for the purposes of learning recovery due to impacts of the COVID–19 pandemic. Additionally,
$79.5 million in federal funding from ESSER II and $93.1 million in federal funding from ESSER III state amounts are provided for learning recovery.
Counselors for High Poverty Schools – $51.6 million (2021–23), $137 million (2023–25) .
Funding is provided to add 0.5 FTE guidance counselors per high poverty school for each prototypical school level (elementary,
middle school and high school) beginning in the 2022–23 school year.
Learning Devices – $24.0 million (2021–23), $4.3 million (2023–25).
Funding is provided to OSPI for grants to assist districts in acquiring and supporting learning devices and to ESDs to provide technology procurement,
training and consultation, as described in E2SHB 1365.
Connectivity – $23.5 million (2021–23), $62.3 million (2023–25).
Beginning in the 2022–23 school year, additional technology funding to support broadband connectivity is provided through an increase of $25
per student to the MSOC rate.
Special Education Professional Development – $12 million (2021–23).
Funding is provided for professional development to promote the inclusion of students requiring special education within the general education classroom.
Special Education Transition Services – $17 million (2021–23).
Federal funding is provided for extension of transition services for students with disabilities who turned age 21 during the 2019–20 or 2020–21
school years and did not graduate with a regular diploma.
Paraeducator Training – $14.8 million (2021–23), $32.1 million (2023–25).
Funding is provided for two days of training in the Paraeducator Certificate Program per year ongoing beginning in fiscal year 2023. Funding
is also provided to create online training for paraeducators on community, family and student engagement.
ESD Nurse Corp, Safety Staff, and Stabilization Funding – $3.3 million (2021 supplemental), $13.6 million (2021–23), $14 million (2023–25).
Additional staff is provided to ESDs for the School Nurse Corps to support
one day a week of support for all school districts with less than 2,000 students enrolled (second class districts). Staffing at regional school safety centers are increased to 2.5 FTEs per ESD. Also, stabilization funding in fiscal year 2021 is provided
to address COVID–19 impacts.
Eliminating School Lunch Copays – $8.9 million (2021–23), $8.9 million (2023–25).
School lunch copays are eliminated for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades eligible for reduced-price lunches, expanding
beyond the current coverage for grades kindergarten through third.
After School Programs – $18.5 million (2021–23).
One-time federal funding is provided to OSPI from ESSER III state amounts to support after school programs.
Summer Enrichment – $18.5 million (2021–23).
One-time federal funding is provided to OSPI from ESSER III state amounts to support summer programs.
Residential Outdoor School – $10 million (2021–23).
One-time federal funding is provided for OSPI to contract with the Washington School Principals’ Education Foundation (woohoo AWSP!!) to support pandemic-related
learning loss through outdoor learning and overnight camp experiences.
Individuals with Disabilities Act – $57.1 million (2021–23).
Federal funding is provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for special education services in addition to regularly provided federal
IDEA funding.
Supports for Children Experiencing Homelessness – $12 million (2021–23).
One-time federal funding is provided for the purpose of identifying children and youth experiencing homelessness and providing them with wraparound
services due to the challenges of COVID–19.
Emergency Food Reimbursements – $14.2 million (2021–23).
Appropriations are provided for federal reimbursements for emergency costs in child nutrition programs.
Passe
