Bellevue School District grapples with budget crisis

With a quartet of high-school sports in jeopardy, and elementary-school librarians and band and art teachers on the chopping block, about 300 parents and students jammed into Interlake High School's performing-arts center Wednesday night to brainstorm about less painful ways to tackle a looming budget crisis in Bellevue public-school programs.

The crowd questioned how the district came up with its list of potential cuts, and asked whether a major fundraising effort, or out-of-the-box thinking about how schools are administered, could save money for athletics and the arts.

Two years into the national recession, most state school districts expect to get less money to fund schools from the state Legislature this year. Lawmakers in Olympia are debating bills that could have a major impact on how big those cuts will be.

Bellevue is one of the first districts in the Puget Sound area to start considering places to trim its budget, even before the state Legislature has finished its work.

The district has a laundry list of potential cuts, including eliminating high-school wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and golf; cutting or eliminating elementary-school librarians; dropping music and art teachers in elementary schools; lowering the temperature in classrooms during the winter; increasing class size; and eliminating seventh-period classes in middle schools.

Many other districts are taking a wait-and-see approach,

"They're the only people getting down to the nitty-gritty," said Issaquah School District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski. "We are all really waiting because at this point, there are millions of dollars swinging around" in the state Legislature, she said.

"There's definitely cuts — the size of them, we just don't know," said Lisa Macfarlane, director of external affairs for the League of Education Voters.

Bellevue estimates it will need to cut between $2.5 million and $6 million from its general-fund budget, depending on how the Legislature votes on certain bills. The district's general fund this year is $173 million.

Last year, Bellevue eliminated secondary-school library positions to save money, a move that was unpopular in the district and made news in some national education publications. This year, the district is trying to gather more public input before deciding on cuts.

At Wednesday's meeting, one parent asked whether the district could do more private fundraising to make a difference.

"Yes — that is such a wonderful idea," said Betsy Johnson, president of the Bellevue Schools Foundation, who jumped up from her seat in the middle of the auditorium to answer the question. Johnson said the foundation could come close to filling the budget gap if parents could contribute $200 for every student in Bellevue schools. The district has an enrollment of about 17,000.

More school districts will soon be following Bellevue with public budget-cutting sessions. For example, Seattle is planning public meetings in April. The Lake Washington School District has postponed its budget meetings twice and is waiting until the legislative session ends to reschedule public meetings.

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com