Thursday, January 20, 2022 Volume 16 Issue 16
Budget Allocation That Reflects Our School's Values
Each year, our school receives a budget allocation that includes both money that we have some control in deciding how to spend and fixed budget for staffing. To determine how our money will actually be spent, our process is that I bring a couple proposals to our Building Leadership Team, (made up of Staff, Parents and Administration), and this team puts forward a proposal for a staff vote. We try hard to create a budget that reflects our values. We carefully consider budget items through a lens of what is equitable for our students. The Building Leadership Representatives (BTS) for our staff each talk to the group they represent about what they feel is important for our budget. We also send a budget survey to parents and staff to give them the opportunity to prioritize spending.
I will be hosting a Parent Coffee about the Budget Survey on January 25 from 5:30-6:15 PM. I will review some of our usual expenses and how they support our students so that you can give informed input about your hopes for our budget. If you’d like to be part of the conversation, here is the link: Click here to join the meeting
Parents who have a strong feeling about the building budget may share their thoughts with their BLT representative:
Rebecca Meichle (Scholars) –rebecca.l.meichle@gmail.com
Chesca Ward (AC Scholars) - chescaw@outlook.com
Vacant (Special Education Services) *
*(We do not currently have a representative for the families of students who receive special education services. These families are encouraged to email either Lucinda or Samantha to give their budget input. If your child receives special education services and you are available to serve on our Building Leadership Team, please let me know!)
In addition to our district allocation, our generous parent group, Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary (FTME) has supported us in funding additional positions that are not covered by our allocation from the district, such as .2 of our librarian. Our FTME group also funds classroom grants to provide supplies and materials that the school would have difficulty funding, assembly performances, and drama residencies for all students.
Seattle Public Schools' Central Office Leadership is anticipating that this will be a difficult budget cycle, particularly if the upcoming levies do not pass. They are preparing budget cuts that will impact Central office staffing, school staffing, curriculum adoptions, etc. We do not yet know the full impact this will have on our school, but we will receive our budget allocation at the end of February. The district will likely be very conservative in their enrollment projections. This is to avoid hiring more staff then necessary and then having to pay for salaries that are not essential, or to cut classroom teachers after the start of the school year.
You can learn much more about the Budget process by visiting the Budget Department page on the Seattle Schools website at: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/finance/budget/ .
You can learn more about the levies at: https://www.seattleschools.org/about/levy/ .
Black Community Special Education Family Forum
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Special Education Department is hosting a virtual family forum for the Black community on Thursday, January 27 from 6:30-8 p.m. Join the Zoom Meeting Here
