Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the June 17 listening session. Community members, parents/guardians, business leaders and staff attended this session to weigh in on their priorities for future funding through a potential educational levy.
At the session, district leaders shared information about which services and programs are required for Battle Ground Public Schools and which are discretionary.
See a breakdown of required vs. discretionary items and the cost of each.
Key takeaways from participants' feedback:
Community support for students remains strong.
Participants expressed support for student learning, safety, mental health services, workforce readiness and extracurricular opportunities. The debate was rarely about whether students need support. It was about how those supports should be funded and prioritized.
Increased trust and transparency are important.
Participants acknowledged the history's of clean audits and suggested that an independent citizen committee with the ability to review district finances could increase trust and ensure that spending is aligned with community priorities.
Cost is top of mind.
Many participants indicated that they support schools, but are struggling with inflation, rising property values and competing household financial pressures.
Stakeholders want prioritization.
Participants suggested ways to adjust the discretionary areas to lower a levy amount while still meeting student needs.
School finance is complex.
Many participants pointed to common misunderstandings about school finance, unfunded mandates, administrative costs and levy limitations.
Participant rankings of priorities
At the June 17 listening session, participants also were asked to indicate whether each of the discretionary categories is critical to provide, neutral or not a priority.
Category | Critical | Neutral | Not a priority | Not answered / undecided | Ranking |
Safety & security Increased student safety and security above what the state provides (e.g., the state funds 2 security positions for all 19 BGPS schools) | 21 (63.7%) | 12 (36.3%) | 0 | 0 | 1st |
Academic support Additional academic support for students with specialized learning needs to help them be successful | 21 (63.7%) | 10 (30.3%) | 0 | 2 (6%) | 2nd |
Student well-being Enhanced support for student well-being and behavior | 16 (48.5%) | 16 (48.5%) | 0 | 1 (3%) | 3rd |
Workforce readiness Readiness for the workforce, military, apprenticeship programs, training and/or college | 20 (60.6%) | 7 (21.2%) | 4 (12.1%) | 2 (6.1%) | 4th |
Class sizes Smaller class sizes | 19 (57.6%) | 9 (27.3%) | 4 (12.1%) | 1 (3%) | 5th |
Districtwide support Districtwide support and student access | 9 (27.3%) | 18 (54.5%) | 5 (15.2%) | 1 (3%) | 6th |
Student activities Student activities, athletics/sports and enrichment | 4 (12.1%) | 17 (51.6%) | 11 (33.3%) | 1 (3%) | 7th |
These rankings are aligned with the extensive feedback that the district sought prior to making budget cuts for next school year. The feedback was gathered through public listening sessions, a ThoughtExchange survey, budget simulation tool and feedback from the district's Citizens Advisory Committee. Thousands of stakeholders provided input, including students, parents and guardians, staff members, volunteers and community members. They recommended that the district work to maintain programs and services in the following areas:
Student safety and well-being
Core academic instruction
Support for vulnerable students
Student engagement
College and career preparation
See the full report on budget cut input.
Next steps in levy planning
Taking community input into consideration, district leaders prepared four potential levy options and presented them to the district's board of directors at its June 22 work session.
See a comparison of the options.
The board did not take any formal action on any of the options. District staff will make revisions to the options for future board consideration.
The board may vote on a levy resolution at its next regular meeting on Monday, July 27, at 6 p.m. If the resolution is approved, the levy would appear on the ballot in the November 2026 general election.
Regular meetings are open to the public. You can attend in person at the Lewisville campus (room C-26, 406 NW Fifth Ave., Battle Ground, WA) or watch online.