OAK HARBOR: Oak Harbor Public Schools Hosts Legislative Forum (OHSD)
The Oak Harbor School District posted this item in the news section of their website on Dec. 19, 2023.
The Oak Harbor Public Schools Board of Directors and administration hosted a legislative forum on Friday, December 15 with State Representatives Clyde Shavers and Dave Paul and State Senator Ron Muzzall.
The Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Oak Harbor Public Schools board directors and administrators to discuss district priorities and challenges. Topics discussed include the need for advocacy at the state and national levels for the Federal Impact Aid program, fully funding special education programs, and staffing to meet the needs of student mental health, behavioral support, and family engagement.
“The number of priorities that legislature has added to school district’s plates over the years has not been met with the additional funding, training or time needed to successfully implement,” said Superintendent Michelle Kuss-Cybula, Ed.D.
District leadership also shared the unique challenges that Oak Harbor Public Schools face with funding and special education costs.
“While we receive impact aid funding to compensate for the amount of non-taxable federal property in Oak Harbor, it only provides ten cents on the dollar of what we would receive in levy dollars,” said Kuss-Cybula, “This means we have to make do with less funding than our surrounding districts.”
“We are also very vulnerable to when impact aid payments are made,” said Executive Director of Business Services Vicki Williams, “We were supposed to receive our impact aid payment back in April, but didn’t receive it until November of this year, which resulted in a million dollar hit to our reserve savings.”
Additionally, Oak Harbor Public Schools continues to face a budget shortfall to fund increasing Special Education services to meet the needs of students.
“NAS Whidbey Island is an Exceptional Family Member program base, Levels 1-6, which means more families with exceptional needs attend our schools,” said Assistant Superintendent Dwight Lundstrom, “Approximately 20 percent of our students have special needs, which is above the 15 percent cap in state funding.”
District leadership shared they hope to continue to advocate and work with legislators to outline priorities for the upcoming legislative session and offered to continue meeting or testifying at the state level for adequate funding to meet the current needs of students.
Learn more about the school board at www.ohsd.net/SchoolBoard
