Trying to fill what an estimated $2.8-billion revenue hole, state legislators in Olympia on Tuesday (Feb. 23) each released a proposed 2010 supplemental budget today that would substantially reduce funding to the Issaquah School District.

The majority of cuts proposed by the Governor, the Washington State House of Representatives and Senate are to resources allocated for class size reduction. Each completely eliminates I-728 funding, which the District has used almost exclusively to create smaller teacher-student class ratios. The proposals also do away with the single remaining state-funded professional development day for teachers.

“Since the Governor released her second supplemental budget last month, we’d hope to see subsequent proposals restore some of the devastating cuts to public education,” Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said. “It seems as if the House proposal does make strides to preserve those critical dollars; the Senate’s budget is moving in the opposite direction.”

A more detailed breakdown of the three budget proposals is available at the Issaquah School District Web site.

The budget proposals from state Senate and House committees come on the heels of the Governor’s proposal in early winter, which also made significant cuts to the District.

Under the Senate’s proposal, the District would lose about $4.8 million in direct funding and $1.6 million in levy authority; under the House’s proposal, the District would lose about $2.7 million in direct funding; and under the Governor’s most recent proposal in January, the District would lose about $4.8 million in direct funding and $1 million in levy authority.

The Governor’s and Senate’s proposals cut an additional $2 million from staffing ratios that keep kindergarten- through fourth-grade classrooms smaller. Unlike the House budget, they also change an important factor used to calculate school districts’ levy authority, resulting in a loss of about $1 to $1.6 million next year under the Governor’s budget and Senate’s budget, respectively.

The Governor and both sides of the house will now work together to reach a final supplemental budget before the Legislative session ends on March 11.

“These are deep cuts, compounding cuts that were just as deep last year,” Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said. “We hope that the Governor and Legislature will be able to find some way—through an increase in levy authority or otherwise—to protect education. It’s an unfortunate day when the best you can hope for is that the Legislature does the least amount of damage to our public schools.”