As school districts across Washington continue to face funding gaps that affect students and classrooms, Highline Public Schools’s financial outlook remains steady, the district announced this week.

Highline is preparing its budget for the 2025-26 school year and expects no major cuts next year, thanks to steady enrollment and budget reductions taken in previous years.

While the state’s new two-year budget includes some increased investments in areas like special education and operational costs, school districts across the state continue to face substantial funding gaps from the state. A local levy fills the state funding gap in Highline.

Throughout this school year, Highline has led a transparent, community-centered process to develop the 2025-26 budget. This has included the use of multiple ThoughtExchanges, an online tool community members can share and rate ideas, along with monthly updates at school board meetings. Additionally, collaboration and input were received from the Family Action Committee and Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team. Highline also provided ongoing updates through its website, internal communications, and external family email newsletter.

The Highline School Board will hold a work session to review the proposed budget, and a public hearing for community members to provide input and make comments.

Schedule:

Budget Presentation – Work Session: Thursday, June 12, 4 – 5 p.m.
Public Comment – Public Hearing: Wednesday, June 25, 4:15 – 4:45 p.m.

All school board meetings are held at the Central Administration Building, 15675 Ambaum Boulevard SW in Burien. All regular board business meetings, work sessions and public hearings are public. Everyone is encouraged to attend or watch online.

Budget Development Process

Highline has shared budget updates throughout the year to keep families, staff and community members informed about the budget development process. Here’s a look at what has been shared so far this school year:

October: Highline shared student enrollment is higher than projected—marking the first time since 2018 that enrollment has not decreased. Enrollment numbers are a critical factor in state funding and play a key role in budget planning.
November: The Highline School Board approved three legislative priorities including special education, operating costs, and transportation, andadvocated for full state funding.
December: The Highline School Board held a work session on the budget development process. Highline shared that, following an $8 million reduction for 2024–25 and stable enrollment, they do not anticipate additional reductions in the 2025-26 budget.
January: Superintendent Ivan Duran co-authored an editorial in The Seattle Times urging lawmakers to address Washington’s K-12 education funding crisis. Highline also shared enrollment projections for 2025-26 and launched a ThoughtExchange to gather feedback.
February: Highline shared the results of their Budget ThoughtExchange. More than 330 ideas were shared, with nearly 13,000 ratings by 360 participants. The community’s top priorities included competitive wages for educators, smaller class sizes, increased support for special education and inclusion, expanded mental health services, and advocacy for full state and federal funding.
March: The School Board held a work session about the budget development process. Highline also asked its community how to best allocate resources for its key priorities through a ThoughtExchange.
April: Highline shared the results of their community ThoughtExchange. More than 265 ideas were shared across four exchanges, with nearly 5,400 ratings by 332 participants. A majority 78% of participants reported they know at least a little bit about the development process, up from 69% in January.
May: Highline received a positive financial state audit and shared the impacts of the new state budget, which continues to underfund key areas including special education, operational costs and transportation.