Legislative Update

Have you heard? High-needs schools that operate the School Breakfast Program (SBP) are required to implement a Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) program and give students adequate time to eat their breakfast for the 2022-23 school year. OSPI has all the information you need to create a plan to make this happen. Not sure if your school is required to operate a BAB program? Need some creative resources to make your program successful? Check out the School Breakfast Program page on OSPI’s website.

Curious what changes are coming via legislation for the next school year? Here's my summary of the bills that may impact you the most next school year, which started at 10 but ballooned a little more (like your workloads). For the full text of the actual legislation, the link for the bolded bill number will take you to the actual legislation. The linked text will take you to the bill report, which summarizes the bill in a much easier to read and understand format. Hopefully, you know WHO in your district is responsible for these programs (it might be you?) and HOW you can help influence them. Please send questions if you have them. Thank you!

Definition of “An embarrassment of riches”. So many good things that it is difficult to fund just one. The legislative session has concluded, the Governor has acted, and now as the show goes on, districts have to adjust. The supplemental budget (ESSB 5693) approved by the Legislature and the Governor increased general fund spending to $64 billion, an increase of $5 billion over the budget approved in April 2021. The final budget increased state spending by 24% over the previous biennium and by more than 50% since 2017.

And just like that, the Legislature has adjourned! This short session was a whirlwind of policy discussions and budget negotiations. In the end, legislators voted on final supplemental and capital budgets that show tremendous support for students, educators, and schools. There was a last-minute push yesterday to get HB 1699 across the finish line, which was amazing. This bill will allow retired educators, including administrators in districts with less than 2,000 students, to work more hours each year in schools.

It was budget week in the Legislature as both House and Senate Democrats released their supplemental operating budgets. Both budget bills had hearings within hours of their release on Monday, and both were amended within days of these hearings. Budget negotiators from both chambers will now seek to reconcile differences and come to a final budget before “sine die” (the last day of the session), scheduled for March 10.