Skip to main content
District

Legislative Priorities

On November 27, 2023, the Mukilteo School Board met with legislators from the 21st, 38th, and 44th districts to review legislative priorities for 2024. The District appreciates the Legislature for recent increases towards targeted funding priorities.  For the 2024 legislative session, the Board asked for consideration of the following key issues that are still impacting the district:

Below, you can read about each of the priorities as well as view or download the document presented to legislators.

  • Fund the full cost of special education
  • Provide ample, equitable and stable resources for staffing
  • Help all students maintain accessible transportation
  • Ensure access to safe and healthy schools
  • Fully fund mandatory initiatives enacted by the Legislature

Also, if you would like to contact your legislator to share your thoughts on school funding, you can look up your state and congressional district on the Washington State Legislature website.  

    • Build upon progress made in the 2023 session and fully fund mandatory and legally protected special education services. Mukilteo School District spent $12.3 million from local levy funds in 2022-23 for costs associated with mandatory special services.
    • Remove the artificial enrollment funding cap and recognize that costs vary for every district based on the uniqueness of each student and community.
    • Expand access to funding for inclusionary practices to improve student outcomes.
    • Eliminate the state application threshold for Safety Net funding and fully fund the cost of education for high-need students.
    • Improve staffing levels in the Prototypical School Funding Model to ensure districts have adequate state funds to appropriately staff schools for current complex needs.
    • Ensure adequate funding to recruit, support, and retain effective staff who reflect the diversity of our student populations.
    • Schools are in crisis with student behaviors and mental health needs. We urge you to recognize the urgency to address staffing increases for the elevated academic, social-emotional, mental health and safety needs of our students.
    • Update the transportation funding model to recognize the real cost in maintaining staff and equipment to provide equitable transportation access to basic education. Mukilteo School District experienced a funding shortfall of $750k for the 2022-23 school year.
    • Make further revisions to fully fund transportation for specialized education and for students in other protected categories, such as students experiencing homelessness and students in foster care.
    • Safeguard the social, emotional, and physical safety of students and staff by updating the school construction formula to reflect true market costs.
    • Make local construction funds more accessible by supporting a simple majority vote for school bonds. Our students deserve access to 21st century schools in all communities that meet their current academic and safety needs. 
    • Every student deserves free meals at school to power their education and well-being. We urge the Legislature to support successful learning environments by providing funding for all meals served in Washington schools that are not reimbursed by the federal government.
    • Ensure future legislation does not impose an undue burden on districts by enacting requirements without associated funding.
    • Previous legislation capped the ability to receive additional local levy dollars and inflationary costs across the state mean any further unfunded mandates will force districts to make decisions that will potentially have adverse effects on supports for students and communities.