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November 15, 2024 - Community News
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Inside this Newsletter:
- Update on Superintendent Hiring Process
- A Message from Superintendent Amii Thompson
- Budget Questions
- Testing the Emergency Notification System
- Farm-to-Table
- Happening Around BISD
- Community Events
- Calendar
- Social Media
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Update on Superintendent Hiring Process
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At last night's School Board Meeting, the Board voted 4-1 to hire Amii Thompson as the district’s superintendent by extending her contract through the 2026-27 school year.
“Superintendent Thompson has demonstrated her leadership abilities time and time again, centering her decisions on student equity, leading with purpose, motivating her team, building resiliency within our district, engaging with our community with transparency and empathy, and keeping the district moving forward daily while not losing sight of long-term visioning,” said BISD School Board President Mark Emerson. “She has earned our trust that we have the right person in the right place at the right time and we are delighted to appoint her as our permanent superintendent.”
Amii has served as the district’s interim superintendent since December 2023, after Superintendent Peter Bang-Knudsen was on medical leave and subsequently resigned. Six weeks ago, the BISD School Board announced its appreciation for her work and questioned whether there was a need to conduct a national search for the superintendent. Through a series of in-person meetings and online surveys, the school board received feedback from its constituents.
“I want to thank staff, families and community members for participating in the process,” said Mark. “Your honest thoughts and unique insights were valuable and helped the Board approach this decision from multiple perspectives.”
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At last night’s school board meeting, the board voted to continue with me as the permanent superintendent, and I am honored to have earned their trust. Having been in BISD for 20 years, I have served in several roles — teacher, association leader, administrator and parent. I care deeply about our BISD community and promise to show up every day as a heart-focused leader who keeps student needs at the forefront of my work. Although there are great challenges ahead (as you will read below), I have confidence that we will navigate through them together as a BISD community.
For the second consecutive fall, BISD faces uncertain times with our budget. However, there are key differences between this year and last year, and I want to share these differences with you.
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We finally have a solid sense of our budget picture.
I have complete faith in our CFO, Kim Knight, and with the close of Fiscal Year End (2023-2024, due to the state last Friday) we now have our absolute bottom line for this year and, most importantly, have zeroed out our last two years of fiscal reporting with OSPI, so believe we have finally uncovered the last of our budget surprises. That’s the good news.
The not-so-good news is that our final bottom line is currently projected at -$396,781. This change (from $28,000 a few weeks ago) reflects recent additional inaccuracies found in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets that necessitated corrections in general ledger accounts specific to grant accruals, inventory and previous force balancing. This means that $4 million deficit last October was likely not actually $4 million but would have been closer to $6-7 million. Please note that this current projection is where we end August 2025 if we make no fiscal changes this school year. We are actively working right now to make changes to remedy the close to -$400,000 shortfall by recapturing previously encumbered expenditures (i.e., pausing most committee work, pulling back a portion of building and departmental budgets, charging additional curricular items to the Technology Levy, etc.) so that we can end this year in a positive financial position, in the black, not the red.
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School closure and consolidation are not on the table:
Last fall felt like a flurry of budget-related events. The announcement of a budget crisis, without a firm number grounded in factual information, quickly led to a recommendation for school consolidation or closure. As we worked through this process last fall and into late winter, it became evident that school closure or consolidation would not generate huge cost savings and that our buildings simply did not have the capacity to absorb all of our BISD students in a way that would be equitable and best for them.
We are sharing budget information with you in a timely and transparent manner:
While it may mean sharing information with you before we have all of the answers to your questions, we are working diligently to share real-time budget information with all of you, and we are openly sharing our current budget outlook. School district budgets are nuanced and ever-changing, but we respect and appreciate that you can understand this and want you to have relevant information as soon as possible.
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We are approaching our budget crisis collaboratively with our staff and our community:
Beyond sharing important information with all of you, we are collaborating with the District Budget Advisory Committee, our Building/District Administrator Teams, and our Labor Partners to receive feedback and work together on our path forward. We will hold building-based and community-based small group meetings (more like focus groups) beginning in December to have meaningful conversations about potential budget reductions and revenue ideas throughout late winter and into early spring. Our goal is to have a very clear plan by mid-March so that we are not rushing into decisions in April and May. We do not yet know the amount we will need to reduce by but will be working closely with PSESD and DBAC in the coming weeks to get a firm understanding of what we need to reduce to create a balanced budget for 2025-26, and how much we will need to set aside to pay back our Capital Fund Loans, and to start building back up our fund balance.
I know this is a lot to continually digest, and I appreciate you taking the time to read this lengthy update. In this time of what feels like literal and figurative darkness, I still find light and hope for our path forward. I am continually inspired by our collective BISD community and our unwavering commitment to come together in times of need on behalf of our BISD students.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any additional questions or would like to connect further.
Take good care,
Amii Thompson
BISD Superintendent
athompson@bisd303.org
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BISD is answering budget questions submitted through this form.
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Did you receive the test message?
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On Monday, November 4th, BISD tested its emergency alert system to ensure that staff and families can be quickly contacted in case of an emergency or weather-related delay/closure.
Thank you!
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Fall is in full effect with BISD's Farm-to-School programming! Approximately 1,500 pounds of local squash was delivered to schools to be featured in meals across the district.
Speaking of squash, students from the Culinary Arts class at Woodward Middle School harvested winter squash from their garden and Bainbridge Farmer Gardener Guild to use in recipes.
“Students have been sharpening their knife skills and creating zucchini fritters, Korean pancakes and curry soup with our lovely harvest.” said teacher Marcela Sandoval.
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Kindergarten students participated in the ABC Fashion Show at x̌alilc Elementary. While Entertainment Tonight was not on hand to cover the event, the answer to their common red-carpet question, "Who are you wearing?" would be as simple as "A to Z." |
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Ponyboy, Sodapop, and others take the stage at the BHS production of The Outsiders. The play runs this weekend, Friday @ 7 p.m. and Saturday @ 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The play is rated PG-13 due to mature content.
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Día de los Muertos Celebration
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Many BISD K-6 students participated in an art show at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. BIMA held a student artist reception last weekend, and more than 600 people attended!
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Click here to view events happening in our local community.
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NOVEMBER
27-29: Thanksgiving Break (No School)
November is National Native American Heritage Month
DECEMBER
12: School Board Meeting @ 5:45 p.m.
23: Winter Break Begins (School Resumes on January 6, 2025)
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Follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on what is happening within our school district, like the lighthearted approach from Ordway staff members in response to the construction on Madison Avenue.
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Non-Discrimination Statement
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Bainbridge Island School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. The following employee has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Kristen Haizlip, Civil Rights Coordinator and Title IX Compliance Officer 8489 Madison Ave. N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; 206-780-1058; khaizlip@bisd303.org
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