January 23 - 29, 2025
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Point Roberts discusses primary school, page 3
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Local dog heading to Westminster, page 8
Girls bowling prepares for districts, page 7
Washington’s Winter sunset colors Semiahmoo Spit 2025 legislative priorities: Budget, housing, police B y S h a u n a S o w e r sb y / C a sc a d e P B S . o r g
(See Legislature, page 3)
s Vibrant hues decorate the sky above Semiahmoo Spit on January 20.
Photo by Grace McCarthy
Gaps in state special education funding impact Blaine school district families By Nolan Baker The gaps in funding for special education illustrate funding problems that are being seen across school districts around the state. State law enacts a cap on how much special education funding the state will cover for a school district. The state is required to cover special education costs for up to 17.5 percent of a school district’s student population, ranging from speech therapy to instructional aids. However, if a district has 20 percent of its population using special education services, that 2.5 percent difference must be covered by the school district. If neither the state nor the school dis-
trict is able to provide a specific therapy, assessment or other help for students with disabilities, the cost is passed down to parents. The Blaine school district received $4.2 million from the state to cover special education for the 2024-25 school year, but costs are projected to exceed $5.8 million. Since 2020, costs for special education have outpaced the state’s allocation by a total of $7.14 million, according to school district data. Gina Bring, a parent of two Blaine students and an advocate for special education, said during the Fund Schools Now town hall on January 7 that her children (See Funding, page 2)
INSIDE
The 2025 Washington State Legislature session kicked off January 13 with a host of new bills and other major issues lawmakers need to tackle before adjourning in late April. Some of the pre-filed bills lawmakers have already introduced and may be considering this year include reducing the DUI blood alcohol concentration limit from 0.08 to 0.05; adding more public places and locations where guns and weapons are prohibited; and a proposal to fund cameras for election drop boxes, after a ballot box was set on fire in Vancouver last year. Here are some of the issues Cascade PBS will be watching during the 105-day session: The budget In odd (numerically) years, lawmakers work on a new biennial budget for the state. Expect a lot of negotiating and reconfiguring this year as Washington faces a budget shortfall of potentially $10 billion to $16 billion over the next four years. As usual, Democrats and Republicans do not see eye to eye on how to shore up the budget. While Democratic leaders believe in the main cuts can be made for certain programs, House and Senate Democrats have said they are in support of creating new sources of revenue, especially in the wake of voters upholding the capital gains tax on the November ballot. “The voters gave us clues about where we should do that,” said Senate majority leader Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) during a December interview with KING 5. “We should be taxing rich people and companies that can afford to pay more and that fairly should be paying more to support the services that we all benefit from as a community.” And at least one lawmaker, Senator Noel Frame (D-Seattle), supports creating a new “wealth tax” for the state’s highest earners, a proposal she also introduced last year but that did not pass. Other proposals may be on the docket this year as well. In December, governor Jay Inslee released a budget proposal to
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . 11, 12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . 6, 7 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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