March 2025
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Former councilmember dies, page 6
The Raven van service expands, page 7
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School board gives green light to cuts By Nolan Baker The Blaine school board voted unanimously on February 24 to direct superintendent Christopher Granger to begin preparing a reduced education plan for the 2025-26 school year, marking the third consecutive year of significant budget cuts to the school district. A finalized budget projection and a full plan that will likely include reductions to certificated, classified and administrative staff and student programs, similar to previous reduced education plans, will be voted on at the next school board meeting on Monday, March 24. This plan is unique to the past two reduced education plans as it also features merging first and second grade classes from the Blaine Primary School into the elementary school to save an estimated $600,000. Blaine is the only school district in Whatcom County with a dedicated primary school, which serves pre-K through second grade. The primary school will continue to serve preschool and kindergarten classes, Granger said.The plan was met with consternation from primary school parents who are concerned with overcrowding and safety. Amanda Madrid, a mother of three students in the Blaine school district ranging from pre-K to middle school, said during the board meeting that the district is more concerned with keeping a balanced budget than creating positive student outcomes. “I understand we have a huge deficit in the budget. I understand we’re operating underwater,” Madrid said. “And while that’s a priority, it shouldn’t come at the expense of our students. I felt like somebody had to say something, and if nobody was willing to do it, then I had to.” Madrid started a Change.org petition asking the school district to stop the proposed merger of the schools, collecting over 350 signatures as of press time.The district has seen increasingly smaller incoming first grade classes compared to outgoing high school senior classes, reflecting a larger, county-wide downturn in birthrates that contribute to a general en(See School, page 1)
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WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN
s The first of three planned community meetings to discuss the creation of an economic strategy for Point Roberts drew a roomful of residents along with a hefty Zoom contingent. The meeting was held February 20 at the community center. Photo by Louise Mugar
Economic development top of mind of residents B y P a t G r u bb A rapt and engaged audience attended the first in-person outreach by Maul, Foster and Alonghi (MFA), a consulting company hired by the Port of Bellingham to create an economic development strategy for Point Roberts, which continues to be economically stressed from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown. The town hall format meeting was held at the Gulf Road community center on February 20 and was well attended in person and remotely on Zoom. The evening began with a networking session which allowed community members to meet the project team. Subsequently, MFA team
leader Seth Otto gave an overview of the night’s agenda and what people could expect. “A number of you have asked what it means to have a strategy. At the end of the day, we’ll be highlighting projects, policies, and proposals that are intended to build the economic base at Point Roberts and that should look like jobs. It should look like investment. It should look like new infrastructure,” he said. “The objectives of this project, the Point Roberts economic development strategy, are to identify challenges and opportunities Point Robert, and then to make recommendations to strengthen the economic base. And we’ll be doing that by looking
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Church ............................................. 10 Classifieds ......................................... 14 Coming Up ....................................... 13 Obituaries ......................................... 14 Opinion ............................................... 4 Seniors, Library, Sheriffs ................ 11 Tides ................................................. 12
(See Economic, page 3)
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