STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ARE IN CRISIS ... Issaquah is no different.

• On April 26, 2022 the Issaquah School Community voted on 3 Levy measures. Prop 1 is a RENEWAL Levy. "It fills the gap between the funding we receive from state and federal sources, and the cost of providing the student services, academic programs and support services that we provide to our students."ISD PROP 1 Promises
• On April 28, 2022 Issaquah School Board announced all 3 Levies had passed. They then voted and approved over $11m dollars in cuts of the programs/support services they promised to keep.April 28 School Board Meeting
• Superintendent Thiele stated students and families will just have to "adjust their expectations" as support services are stripped. Bait and switch.
• ISD advertised all of these services are approximately $40.9m annually. The EP/O PROP 1 Renewal Levy offers a 4 year $272m funding source.

THE ISSAQUAH COMMUNITY VOTED TO FUND THESE IMPORTANT PROGRAMS BECAUSE ...

The drills never get easier.

Not for the kids. Not for the teachers. Not for the office staff. Not for the paras. Not for the nurses. Not for the custodians. Not for the bus drivers.

Kindergartners grow up into adults who know what to do if there’s an active shooter. Run, hide, fight.

They grow into adults who know that no matter how many mass shootings we suffer as a society, that their country is a place where mass shootings are tolerated. The grownups in our schools know their jobs. Their actual jobs, but also the jobs they have if it isn’t a drill.

And when there’s a particularly bad one – not that there are good ones, but lower death counts are certainly better than the really high death counts – when there’s a particularly bad one, we feel it in our bones, in our blood, in our hearts.

Because we know it could happen anywhere.

After every mass shooting, nearly all committed by an 18-year-old young man with a legally acquired AR-15, the folks who don’t want to talk about the actual method for taking so many lives so quickly, focus on the mental state of the killer.

Mental health initiatives and anti-bullying measures are easier to fund than addressing access to wartime weaponry.

Our district’s programs to address social-emotional safety and mental health were among the first and best of its kind in the state. Voters put their money where their mouths were and have funded coaches to promote positive behavior, and counselors to address mental health.

And then Covid-19 changed everything.

The number of kids needing intensive help outpaces resources, and the number of kids with behavior problems has spiked. Budget cuts have led to staffing cuts and tightly packed classrooms. The grownups in our schools must deal with far more with far less. And so do the students.

Fortunately, our school district had already made wise investments to help address this crisis.

“We have invested in PBSES because research shows that when a school climate is positive and predictable, students feel safer, have better academic performance and make better behavior choices.” — ISD web site

Our community saw that continued investment was vital to helping our kids cope with the present and ensure a healthier future. In April voters resoundingly supported Levy Prop 1 to continue funding PBSES and other mental health programs.

And then the district cut the program. Two days after voters said yes.

The district argues that the spirit of PBSES is established and is enough.

I repeat – the spirit of the program.

Staff resignations are currently outpacing past years at a rate of about two to one. Impassioned testimony from teachers at board meetings detail deep behavioral issues that require intensive support from the district.

We are in crisis. The gutted spirit of a solid program doesn’t cut it. And then an 18-year-old with a legally acquired AR-15 walked in a school and killed 19 children and two teachers – one day before summer vacation.

So here we are.

We demand leadership. We demand that our district honor the voters’ choice. We demand that the district reverse the cuts. Do your jobs. Get inside our buildings. See for yourselves what our staff and students experience every day. Maybe take a look at what the district web site says about our amazing PBSES program. It is amazing. So fund it.

We have the tools. We just need action.