In a party-line vote April 21, the state House of Representatives passed legislation to create a Discover Pass for state parks and open spaces, including Mount Si, which draws about 500,000 visitors a year. The state Senate passed the measure in a bipartisan vote the previous day.

The legislation now heads to the governor. Gov. Chris Gregoire also proposed a user fee for state parks in a proposed budget released in December.

Once the legislation reaches the governor’s desk, she has 20 days to sign the measure into law.

Users could use the annual Discover Pass to park at trailheads and other state-managed lands. For users uninterested in the annual parking pass, the legislation proposes a $10 day-use fee for using the lands. Otherwise, violators could face a ticket.

The proposal attracted broad support from outdoor recreation groups, including the Washington Trails Association.

“I applaud the legislators for their leadership in creating the Discover Pass,” state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said in a statement. “With no room in the general fund for recreation funding, our choice was a user’s pass or closing parks and recreation opportunities on state lands.”

If the legislation is signed into law, the agencies responsible for public recreation lands throughout the state — the departments of Natural Resources, and Fish and Wildlife, as well as the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission — need to sort out implementation at recreation sites.

Bryan Flint, a Department of Natural Resources spokesman, said the agencies already started collaborating to determine ideas for enforcing the rule and marketing the Discover Pass.

The agencies also plan to conduct outreach to educate users about the change if the bill turns to law.

“Nobody’s going to get fined on July Fourth weekend for not having a pass,” Flint added.

If Gregoire decides against the recreation fee, agencies could close state lands to public access in order to cut costs. Squak Mountain State Park near Issaquah faces closure from July through 2013 as legislators scramble to patch a $5.1 billion hole in the 2011-13 budget.

State natural resources agencies need to generate about $70 million in order to make up for the lack of state general fund dollars.

Snoqualmie Valley’s delegation in Olympia voted along party lines on the measure.

House Republicans unanimously opposed the measure. GOP representatives said lawmakers in future years could dip into the funds designated for recreation for other purposes.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com.

Washington State Democrats Chairman Dwight Pelz is due at the March 16 meeting of the 5th District Democrats, the local party organization.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, called for eliminating the 2012 presidential primary in order to save the cash-strapped state about $10 million. Voters mandated the primary in a 1989 ballot initiative, but Democrats rely more on party caucuses to allocate delegates.

The local Democrats meet at 7:30 p.m. at the King County Library Service Center, 960 Newport Way N.W., Issaquah.

“Dwight Pelz always has something interesting to say,” 5th District Democrats Chairman Jim Baum, a Maple Valley resident, said in a release. “We have polled our members on the primary versus caucus issue. They are overwhelmingly in favor of caucuses.”

The district stretches from Issaquah to Snoqualmie Pass, and from Sammamish to Maple Valley.

Pelz, a former King County councilman and state senator, is also expected to be available to discuss other issues involving the Democratic Party in Washington. The local group plans to host speakers at other monthly meetings.

“We are trying to keep important political issues in front of our membership by offering members the chance to hear from — and talk with — key political figures,” Baum said.

That constant dynamic has kept the King County Flood Control District busy since it was created in 2007.

But falling house prices threatened the district’s ability to collect taxes this year. A state cap on property taxes for newer taxing districts threatened to cut off its revenue.

A last minute deal with eight fire districts saved the district’s 2011 levy. But the flood control district was expected to face the same problem in 2012.

The state Legislature has granted the flood control district at least a temporary reprieve.

The House and Senate passed legislation March 4 to exempt the district from the state-imposed cap on property levies. Fire districts are also not limited by the cap, which limits the amount of combined property taxes to $5.90 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Most taxing districts, which include hospital and park districts, are maintaining their budgets while home values are falling. That means they have to take a bigger share per $1,000, which has pushed some up against that cap.

The flood control district will still be subject to a constitutional limit of property taxes of 1 percent — or $10 per $1,000 of assessed value.

“The district attends to critical health, safety and welfare needs of citizens,” Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson told the House Ways & Means Committee in February.

Flooding has devastated Snoqualmie time and again, causing economic and social damage.

“Incidents of domestic violence, divorce, and job and school struggles measurably increase due to the grinding and unending stress that families experience for days and months following a flood event,” Larson said. “Dissolved chemicals, such as fuel, sewage and fertilizers, contaminate flooded homes threatening the health of the most vulnerable.”

The flood control district has spearheaded efforts in the Valley to mitigate the fallout of flooding. Since its inception, it has paid for more than 50 projects on the Snoqualmie, Tolt and Green rivers. It also pays for the Flood Warning Center, which coordinates county response and information dissemination during flooding.

House gives less leeway

There are differences between the legislation passed in the House and Senate, which will have to be ironed out before the bill is sent to Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The Senate bill, which passed 44 to 2, completely exempts the flood control district from the tax cap.

The House, where opposition was stronger, gave the flood control district less leeway. The House bill sunsets the exemption after 2017, and an amendment offered by Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, exempts only $0.25 from the $5.90 cap.

“We could live certainly with the amendment and if need be with the sunset, because we’re primarily concerned about the next five to six years,” said Kjris Lund, the flood control district’s director.

The district only collects $0.11 per $1,000, so it would not be affected by Orcutt’s amendment. Lund said there are no plans for increasing the amount.

In 2010, the district collected $35 million. It has requested $36 million in 2011.

The flood control district could look into taking out a bond to pay for projects, Lund said.

But “even without pro-rationing, we have had so many emergencies,” she said.

Problems with the Green River’s Hanson Dam have sucked up tens of millions of dollars in recent years.

Lund said she will ask the district’s board of directors to consider borrowing from other government entities.

Protecting Si View Parks District

The Senate’s bill also protects the Si View Metropolitan Parks District from the $5.90 cap.

The parks district and King County Public Hospital District No. 4, which supports Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, could have to split a cut of $0.30 per $1,000.

For the parks district, that means a loss of about $250,000, about one-eighth of its operating budget, according to Travis Stombaugh, the district’s director.

Without an exemption from the state cap, the parks district “will have to make cuts,” Stombaugh said.

State Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, submitted an amendment that lets the parks district ask voters to protect its levy from the $5.90 cap. Pflug represents Snoqualmie Valley and other parts of east King County.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

Washington State Legislators are reading one clear message in the results of the Nov. 2 election — no new taxes.

That won’t make the Legislature’s job writing a balanced budget for 2012-2013 any easier when it meets in Olympia in January. The state is expected to be short about $4.8 billion.

Raising taxes is a non-starter for many politicians after voters rejected new taxes and repealed an existing tax in several statewide tax initiatives. Voters also approved an initiative that makes it harder for the Legislature to raise new taxes.

“Those were clear, unambiguous statements from voters that we want you to live within your means,” said Rep. Glenn Anderson, a Fall City Republican who was re-elected to his seat in the 5th Legislative District.

Washington Republicans were reinvigorated by election results. The GOP picked up several seats in the state House of Representatives and in the state Senate. With several races too close to call, final numbers are not available. But Republicans certainly reduced the Democrats’ majority in Olympia.

Republicans wasted little time to seize the momentum in tackling Washington’s looming budget shortfall. The party hand delivered a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire asking her to call for a special meeting of each party’s leadership in the Legislature to discuss budget savings.

The budget shortfall is not as big this time as it was in 2009, but it could hurt more now, said Glenn Kruper, spokesman for the state Office of Financial Management.

Last time around, the Legislature used one-time fixes worth about $5 billion and cuts of about $4 billion to bridge the budget gap. Now, legislators will have to cut another $4.8 billion.

The Legislature that convenes in January will likely be extremely reluctant to raise taxes.

“Elections are always about repositioning the Legislature,” said Paul Berendt, vice-president of Strategies 360, a Seattle-based political consultant group. Berendt chaired the state Democratic Party from 1995-2006.

In addition to the public’s defeat of tax initiatives, several Republicans were elected on anti-spending platforms.

“There’s just no appetite for tax increases,” Berendt said. “There’s going to have to be some fundamental changes in how the budget is approached.”

Specifically, both parties will have to agree on which programs make the most sense to cut, he said.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

State enacts anti-bullying legislation

Snoqualmie Valley School Board members said they deeply regretted that a student was seriously injured in an incident at Mount Si High School, according to a statement the board released June 15.

The statement was in response to an incident that happened at Mount Si High School Nov. 6, in which a freshman was assaulted in the boy’s locker room. The district hired Daphne Schneider, a licensed private investigator, to look into the incident, and she released her report June 3.

In the statement, the board confirmed it initiated a third-party investigation in the spring to learn more about the incident and to see what improvements could be made to the school’s procedures. After the release of the report, school officials made a new policy requiring staff to immediately call 911 if a student appeared to have a head injury.

During the incident, staff did not call 911 for about an hour after the assault. The freshman returned to school two months later, but has since left Mount Si.

Despite that, the school board wrote “that the school’s administrative staff had been well-intentioned in their attempts to handle the situation and to develop a mutually-acceptable safety and education plan for the injured student’s re-entry to school.”

The board said that the student who assaulted the freshman had unacceptable behavior.

“We wish the incident could have been prevented, and have confidence that the Mount Si High School administration will continue working diligently to thwart student misconduct, in the best interest of all students,” the board said. “Ensuring a safe learning environment for all students has been, and will continue to be, a top priority.”

The board highlighted several anti-harassment programs at Mount Si, including diversity training for staff, the establishment of the Diversity and Respect Team, made up of students, staff, parents and community members to guide diversity and respect initiatives and student programs, such as Natural Helpers and the Keeping the Peace student awards.

Community response

Two people — a parent and a student — spoke out against bullying at the June 10 school board meeting.

At the meeting, parent Kim Baker asked the school board to do more to stop bullying because the anti-bullying assemblies given in elementary, middle and high school did not seem to be working, she said.

Senior Savannah Hunt attended the meeting on behalf of a group of students committed to stop bullying at Mount Si.

Hunt asked the school board to be proactive in addressing harassment at school.

“I’m wondering how the school board plans to assist us in making a change at school and what you guys are doing to assure us what happened in November never happens again,” Hunt said.

The community’s response to the incident comes at a time when the whole state is reexamining anti-bullying provisions in its schools.

Gov. Chris Gregoire recently signed into law House Bill 2801, which regards anti-harassment strategies in public schools. The law took effect June 10.

In the 2008-09 school year, 256,034 students were enrolled in King County schools. Of those students, 2,231 were suspended and 89 were expelled due to bullying behavior, according to a report compiled by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Last year, the Snoqualmie Valley School District had 5,817 students, with 54 suspended and zero expelled because of bullying behavior, the report said.

State government recognized that despite legislation prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying of students in public schools, harassment of students has not declined since the law was enacted, according to language in the new legislation.

The new law requires that each school district designate an employee to be a primary contact for students experiencing harassment or intimidation. Districts also have to show the superintendent of public instruction anti-harassment information on their websites.

Snoqualmie Valley schools spokeswoman Carolyn Malcolm said the district updated its anti-harassment policy in February 2009.

Districts have until August 2011 to implement the new law, and Malcolm said the district would begin it as soon as the OSPI releases more information about it in August.

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

Find SVSD’s anti-harassment policy

• Visit www.svsd410.org and select “District Policies” from the “District Information” dropdown menu.
• Select “Series 3000” on the left and click on policy “3207 Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying.” The link’s destination contains the procedure for the policy.

The Snoqualmie Education Association agreed May 10 to support the district’s involvement in competing for Race to the Top money. The majority of the association’s executive board and building representatives — about 30 people — voted yes on the measure, association President Art Galloway said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire asked Washington school districts to make a decision regarding Race to the Top by May 17. Snoqualmie Valley Superintendent Joel Aune said he would recommend to the school board that it approve the measure at the May 13 board meeting, after the Star’s deadline.

Race to the Top is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Forty states and the District of Columbia applied to the first round of Race to the Top, but only two states — Delaware and Tennessee — received money, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

If Washington wins Race to the Top money in the second round, it could win up to $250 million, which would become available in January 2011. The Snoqualmie Valley School District could win $500,000 over a four-year period, which amounts to roughly $22 per student per year.

If Washington wins, it will set aside some of the $250 million and encourage participating school districts to apply for more money, which Snoqualmie Valley officials are interested in doing, Aune said.

Yet, Washington is at a disadvantage because it does not have charter schools, part of the grading rubric for Race to the Top money.

Round two applications are due June 1 and applicants will be notified if they won in early September. If Washington wins, school district administrators and teachers would have 90 days to design a plan about how they would spend the money, Galloway said.

Galloway said that though the association voted yes on the funding, it still had some concerns “about adding on more layers of work and responsibility to an already demanding job,” especially since federal money usually comes with strings attached.

Race to the Top would require more data collection, which could mean more testing for students, Galloway said.

But, if the school district’s Race to the Top plan is fully funded and has specific plans for increasing student learning, Galloway said it would benefit students and teachers.

For example, some Snoqualmie Valley elementary school teachers test their students’ reading skills.

“This could help us have more support for the teachers as they give those tests and analyze the data from those tests,” Galloway said.

While $500,000 in four years isn’t too much money, Aune said the district would take what it could get.

“A half a million dollars, that’s a goodly sum,” Aune said. “It’s a significant amount, especially in a time when we are really struggling. It just makes no sense to not at least continue to move forward as a potential participant.”

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

The state Legislature cut $120 million from public K-12 education, but not all of the cuts were as severe as some legislators had earlier proposed.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has yet to sign the budget, which was passed by the Legislature after a special session ending April 12.

The Legislature looked at several education issues.

Class size reduction for grades K-3 was maintained, but fourth grade class sizes will increase, saving the state $30 million.

Legislators pledged to maintain funding for all-day kindergarten.

Snoqualmie Valley School District expects to learn about how the budget will affect Snoqualmie Valley schools within a few weeks, said spokeswoman Carolyn Malcolm.

State Superintendent Randy Dorn said he was pleased that most class sizes were maintained.

“I’m also pleased that the Legislature largely kept intact funding for class sizes in early grades,” he said in a news release.

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

State Sen. Cheryl Pflug, a registered nurse who represents Snoqualmie Valley in Olympia, sponsored a bill to establish a pair of pilot projects intended to make healthcare more affordable. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the legislation March 25.

The measure sponsored by Pflug, a Maple Valley Republican, promotes a team approach to healthcare.

The law encourages public and private healthcare systems to coordinate patient care and pay for results rather than treatments.

The measure establishes at least two accountable-care organization pilot projects — collaborations between physicians and hospitals designed to allow a team approach to coordinating patient care. The legislation requires the projects to be established by Jan. 1, 2012.

“Accountable-care organizations change today’s patient care model,” Pflug said in a news release.

“Instead of paying doctors a set amount per patient visit or treatment, primary physicians in accountable-care organizations receive additional compensation when they help improve a patient’s health such that it saves money by preventing hospital visits and preventable complications of chronic illness.”

Snoqualmie Valley School District officials are still waiting to fully develop their 2010-11 school budget, while legislators work to resolve the state’s budget issues.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced she would call the Legislature back for a special session March 11 when representatives couldn’t reach consensus on new tax initiatives. The special session convened March 15.

With forecasted revenue losses between $2.7 million and $6.4 million, based on supplemental budgets from the Legislature, school officials are bracing for impact and waiting to develop the coming school year budget.

“There continues to be unknowns as to ultimately where the budget is going to land,” Snoqualmie Valley Superintendent Joel Aune said at the March 25 school board meeting.

Under Gregoire’s budget proposal in January, the district would lose about $1.8 million, according to school district Business Director Ron Ellis.

The majority of cuts in the Legislature’s and Gregoire’s proposed budgets are to resources allocated for class-size reduction.

“I’m still pretty confident that that number is the worst case scenario,” Aune said, when asked if he thought the cuts would balloon like they did last year.

If the worst case scenario does happen, the district could have to lay off up to 26 teachers, Ellis said. After looking at attrition rates, in terms of retirements and resignations, Aune said the district might not have to lay off any teachers at all, but he won’t know for sure until the Legislature completes its budget.

Last year, district officials had to present lay-off notices to six teachers, five custodians and several administrators, and cut the hours for instructional assistants and secretaries, as a means to manage their own budget. All of the teachers given layoff notices were recalled when federal stimulus money and cuts in other areas allowed them to hire them back.

As the special session continues, legislators will look at what tax package, including a three-tenths of a cent increase to the state’s sales tax, an increase on the current tax on beer to 50 cents per gallon or additional taxes on bottled water, soda and candy will be considered as ways to solve the budget gap before the special session ends April 13.

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@isspress.com.

It is time legislators show that they are men and women of substance, capable of leading the state through its fiscal crisis by finding creative solutions, not just new taxes or cuts.

Some legislators and Gov. Gregoire are content to threaten cutting vital services unless taxes are raised and some cuts made to close the gap. And yet state employees —the largest budget expenditure — are in line to receive five percent pay increases separate from cost of living adjustments. They are receiving raises while programs are being cut. How many private sector employees have endured another year of salary freezes and consider themselves lucky to have jobs? Why should state employees be any different?

The governor has the legal authority to force the state unions into collective bargaining, given the current budget shortfall. The governor must exercise this authority, which will go a long way toward closing the budget gap.

The state should use its rarely-used competitive contracting authority to lower the cost of providing public services.

User fees should supplant direct taxpayer support for applicable programs, boards and other entities.

Any tax increases must be considered in terms of reviving the state’s economy as soon as possible. The sooner Washington returns to prosperity, the sooner the state will be on solid fiscal footing. Raising the state’s business and occupation tax is not the answer; an increase is estimated to potentially cost nearly 15,000 jobs by 2013.

Further, the Legislature must keep in mind that even with the governor’s all-cuts proposed budget, the state will face another projected budget shortfall in 2011 of over $2 billion.

Short-term fixes won’t work now. The Legislature needs to craft a budget with skill and creativity. It has the tools to do so. Does it have the resolve to use them?

Local and state deficits are causing the Snoqualmie Valley School District to pull its purse strings tighter than ever. Next year, the district is slimming its general fund budget by 7 percent, a $3.5 million reduction. 

Over the month of March, district administrators traveled from school to school, making presentations about the financial crunch. District staff asked parents, teachers and community members to rate 10 services offered by the district — including class size, student services and instructional materials — from most important to least important. An online survey sent to 4,500 people also encouraged the community to rate the programs.

Using data from the survey and the experience of administrative staff, district administrators will create a blueprint for making budget cuts, before asking the school board to approve the final budget July 9. 

Pressure from both state and local budgets are influencing the 2009-10 budget’s formation. 

The district is inviting Snoqualmie Valley residents to its district office to learn more about the budget and voice their thoughts. The first opportunity, at the school board’s work session 4 p.m. April 2, will have time for public comment. Another public comment session will be held at the district office at 6 p.m. April 16, before the school board meeting. Comments are welcome online at www.svsd410.org from April 3-16.

The school board will adopt the final blueprint for the 2009-10 budget at a special meeting at the district office at 6:30 p.m. April 20.

Proposed state cuts could hurt teachers

With the state facing a deficit of more than $9 billion, the Legislature is cutting a wide array of funding from its two-year budget, including Initiative 728. The initiative directs surplus state revenues toward reducing class size, extending learning opportunities for students who need or want it and investing in educators and their professional development.

In her December budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed cutting Initiative 728 by about 25 percent. The proposed cut has since jumped to astronomical proportions: the Washington state Senate Ways and Means Committee has proposed cutting 93 percent of Initiative 728.

Like Gregoire’s budget, the Senate Committee also proposed suspending Initiative 732, a fund providing teachers with cost-of-living raises.

In a press release, Washington state schools chief Randy Dorn chastised the Senate Committee for proposing such high cuts.

“I have said this before, but it bears repeating: districts are on the brink of a financial crisis,” Dorn said. “Without help, teachers will be laid off, class sizes will balloon, services will be cut and building maintenance will be delayed.”

The state House has yet to propose or vote on a budget.

The state has a deadline of April 26 to finalize its budget, but school district Business Director Ron Ellis said the legislature would likely need an extension. 

Even after the Legislature approves the budget, the Snoqualmie Valley district will not know how much money it is getting from the state. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will need to crunch the numbers and determine how much state money all 295 public school districts in the state will receive.

If the Legislature delays its budget deadline, it will directly affect Snoqualmie Valley’s budget-making process. 

According to various union contracts, the district must issue non-renewal notices between April 29 and May 15. Because the district will likely not know how much state funding it will receive before it issues pink slips, it may have to lay off teachers before it knows how many it can afford to keep.

“The district administration takes reduction decisions very seriously and is working diligently to keep the impact of budget cuts as far away from classroom learning as possible,” Superintendent Joel Aune said. “That said, reductions of this magnitude will be spread across a broad range of services and resources.”

If more state money becomes available, the district will hire back teachers.

Ellis said affected employees could receive one of two notices. A non-renewal notice affirms the district has eliminated a position — meaning the employee is out of a job. An adverse affect notice reduces a position — meaning a person may only work 20 hours per week, instead of 40.

Snoqualmie district’s monetary situation

Of the $3.5 million the district plans to cut, about $2 million is money the district expects to share of the state deficit. The other $1.5 million comes from local expenses. 

This school year, the general fund — which supplies money for areas like employee salaries, utilities, school supplies and gas for buses —planned to spend $1 million more than it brought in, Ellis said.

Added expenses, including higher fuel prices, the ongoing cost of the new Twin Falls Middle School, unfunded mandates and partially paid teacher cost-of-living adjustments, cost the district roughly $1 million. The district set aside $500,000 after agreeing to the updated certified teacher contract. 

More money will come from increased student enrollment, but Ellis predicts that enrollment will increase about 1 percent next year, down from the 2 percent increase schools experienced this year. 

The federal government is also sending money, but the district is unsure how much money it will get or when it will arrive. Ellis said neither the money from increased enrollment or the federal government is being factored into the new budget.

Community engagement

In addition to holding 18 staff and department meetings across the district, administrators also held four public meetings addressing its financial predicament. Only 11 people total came to the meetings. At one of the meetings, parent Steven Silverman asked the district to better quantify its programs, instead of asking him to rank them in order of importance.

Silverman asked the district to show how much money it spends on each program and how many students benefit from each, instead of asking him to arbitrarily rank them. Seeing a numbered budget could also help him see where the district was inefficiently spending money, Silverman said.

Administrators plan to take the input from the public meetings and the more than 900 online survey responses when determining the district’s budget blueprint. 

At the March 26 school board meeting, several community members said the district should offer more time for public comment.

North Bend Elementary PTA President Anne Stedman thought otherwise.

“I think there has been a lot of criticism of the board and of the district in not being transparent,” Stedman said. “I personally enjoy the fact that they invite people to come to meetings and listen to what they have to say and see the numbers they have.”

Times are financially tight for the state of Washington, especially for K-12 education and the Department of Early Learning.

With a $5.8 billion deficit, a newly proposed budget by Governor Chris Gregoire has a string of cuts amounting to about $3 billion in the 2009-11 state budget. If passed by the Legislature, these cuts would impact both the Snoqualmie Valley School District and Encompass of North Bend.

School district administrators are still assessing exactly how the proposed budget would affect Snoqualmie Valley, but much of their attention is focused on the fate of two funds — one that reduces class size and one that funds teacher wage increases. 

Superintendent Joel Aune said Initiative 728, a fund that reduces class sizes, increases learning opportunities for students and provides professional development for staff, supplies salaries for 30 teachers. 

Statewide, the governor has proposed cutting $178 million from Initiative 728, which would translate into about $600,000 less for Snoqualmie Valley. 

“We utilize the bulk of those 728 funds to fund teachers, which translates into class size reduction,” Aune said.

The suggested budget also calls for the suspension of Initiative 732, which funds cost of living adjustments for teachers. Statewide, this would save $350 million. 

With all of these cuts, Aune said he was still grateful for other areas that retained funding. The two learning improvement days — days in which teachers can focus on school improvement plans — were in danger of losing financial support. But in the end, the governor chose to leave them untouched.

“To leave those two days intact was certainly positive,” Aune said. 

The state Legislature will tackle the budget in the upcoming session. The Snoqualmie Valley PTSA plans to visit Olympia in February to call for increased school funding. People can also contact their representatives to comment on the budget.

“We’re responsible and committed to doing the very best that we can to support our students,” Aune said. “My biggest concern is we don’t undo so much of the good work that was done in the last 10 years.”

Encompass is also facing cuts. The governor’s proposed budget would force Encompass to rely more on private fundraising to finance its programs.

“It changes how we have to operate,” said Terry Granillo, Encompass director of finance.

In the proposed budget, Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) funding is flat, which is the same thing as a cut, Granillo said. 

ECEAP provides education and assistance to 36 low-income children living with developmental disabilities. The families of these children also receive assistance from Encompass.

“It’s a critical program,” said Paula Nelson, ECEAP family support specialist. “It gives (the children) the head start or boost they need to enter into kindergarten.”

The only other Snoqualmie Valley ECEAP provider, Riverview School District, offers 18 spots in Carnation.

Without additional state funding, Encompass will have to pay for increases in general costs, including supplies, utilities and wage adjustments. 

Family Support activities, such as Parent Education, Alcohol & Other Drug programs and Kinship will be flatly funded or suspended.

The Child Care Resource and Referral would be cut entirely from the state budget, but would continue to receive federal funds for the Washington Scholars Program.

Child Care Resource and Referral offers technical assistance to Encompass’ Play and Learn Group and also helps it stay on track for its national accreditation for preschool renewal. 

Without Child Care Resource and Referral, Encompass would have to use its own resources to preserve its services and accreditation. 

The budget also fails to address Early Intervention programs. King County Developmental Disabilities Division is required to provide services to families with children experiencing developmental disabilities. But the program is under funded — Encompass was not even paid for its services in these areas for the month of November, Granillo said.

“We are the only EI (Early Intervention) provider in the Valley, so by impacting Encompass, these funding shortfalls directly impact children and their families in our community,” Granillo said.

A better way to fund Early Intervention would be to provide money on a per-child basis instead of giving an insufficient flat sum to agencies like Encompass, Granillo said. 

Overall, funding for the Department of Early Learning will increase 4 percent. Some of those increases will go toward the homeless care subsidy, which would help Encompass staff refer homeless families to agencies receiving these funds.

Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.