In the fall, we will enter the final year of our strategic plan. We would like to hear from you. This year, we introduced four key priority areas to guide our work and investments in alignment with our strategic plan.
As we develop next year’s budget and plan for the next version of our strategic plan, we want your input on how we can build on this work and allocate resources for maximum impact.
Our four focus areas are:
- Inclusionary Practices: Ensuring students of all abilities and needs learn and participate together in the same classrooms and school activities.
- Literacy and Language Development: Strengthening reading and writing skills across grade levels to ensure all students achieve literacy success.
- Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS): Building a system that ensures every student receives the academic, behavioral and emotional support they need to meet their individual needs and build on their strengths.
- Secondary Redesign: Reimagining and redesigning the middle and high school experience to better prepare today’s learners for an evolving world.
Share Your Input
We invite staff, families, and students to participate in a ThoughtExchange to share ideas on how we can best allocate resources to support these priorities.
We’re asking: How do you believe we can best allocate resources to support each priroity area.
There is one ThoughtExchange for each focus area. All exchances will close April 20.
It takes just three minutes to share your thoughts and rate others' ideas. Your voice is an important part of this process. This is one of many ways we are gathering feedback to inform next year’s budget decisions.
Inclusionary Practices ThoughtExchange
Literacy and Language Development ThoughtExchange
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) ThoughtExchange
Secondary Redesign ThoughtExchange
More Budget Information
We’ve shared budget updates throughout the year to keep families, staff and community members informed. Here’s a look at what we’ve shared so far:
- October: We 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 our budget planning.
- November: We highlighted Highline’s advocacy for increased state funding in three areas. Our 2025 legislative priorities focus on securing essential resources for students and schools.
- December: The School Board held a work session on the budget development process. We also shared that we do not anticipate additional reductions in the 2025-26 budget after eliminating $8 million from our district budget for the 2024-25 school year and steady enrollment.
- January: Superintendent Ivan Duran co-authored an editorial in The Seattle Times urging lawmakers to address Washington’s K-12 education funding crisis. We also shared our enrollment projections for next school year.
- February: We shared the results of our Budget ThoughtExchange. More than 330 ideas were shared, with nearly 13,000 ratings by 360 participants. Our community's top priorities include 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 on Wednesday, March 5 about the budget development process.