OAK HARBOR: District to review elementary school boundaries
Allyson Ballard reports from the Oak Harbor School District board meeting of Mon., Sep. 23, 2026, for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity AI
Oak Harbor School District is launching a review of attendance boundaries for its five elementary schools in response to ongoing enrollment declines and financial pressures. A community team will meet throughout spring to develop a boundary-change recommendation for the school board; any approved changes would not take effect until the 2027–28 school year. Applications to join the Boundary Review Community Partners team closed Feb. 25. Superintendent Michelle Kuss-Cybula noted that state education funding has fallen from a peak of 52% of the state budget to just 42%, compounding the district’s fiscal challenges. Education consulting firm Teater Crocker is facilitating the process.
They Said It
State funding a school receives fluctuates as its enrollment does, but as Superintendent Michelle Kuss-Cybula stressed at Monday’s board meeting, the school district has already dealt with insufficient funding the last five years.
Kuss-Cybula referenced a statement released by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal earlier that day which included a graph demonstrating the share of the state’s budget dedicated to public education since 2013. That share peaked at 52% from 2019 to 2021; currently, it sits at 42%.
“So 42% out of 100%… we’re going in the wrong direction for school districts,” Kuss-Cybula said.
Projecting enrollment is difficult, Kuss-Cybula explained, because the number of students actually in attendance is never known until they show up. But significant enrollment declines are currently expected for kindergarten through fourth grade and grades nine through 12; enrollment is anticipated to remain steady at the intermediate and middle schools.
