Superintendent's All-staff Messages

I know that this school year went a bit longer than any of us had anticipated, but tomorrow is finally our official last day with students. We made it! I want to say thank you for all of your hard work and commitment to finishing the year strong.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Whether this is your first year in teaching or your fortieth, whether you have spent your entire career in Highline or serve as a guest teacher, I want to thank you for your dedication to our students.

You have probably heard the news that state lawmakers raised the cap on local levies, which was lowered as part of the McCleary school funding plan. We are grateful to our legislators for restoring levy funding that Highline voters approved to support our students.

Thank you to all who participated in our annual climate survey. Based on your feedback, we have some growth to celebrate and some work to do.

I want to remind you that we are currently running a Thoughtexchange to gather input from staff and families on new course offerings to add to our high school course schedules.

As you know, our state revenue is tied to our enrollment. After years of steady growth, Highline’s enrollment numbers were unexpectedly low this year, and we anticipate the loss of another 500 students next year.

As many of you know it is Education Support Professionals Week, which provides us the opportunity to publicly thank our valuable Highline team members who often work behind the scenes to ensure that students and staff have what they need to succeed.

Thank you all for your flexibility and patience during our snow closures and delays. We recognize that these decisions can have a major impact on our students, staff and families, however, we will always put safety first.

You have probably heard conflicting messages lately about McCleary and state education funding —  from “We fixed it!” to “Brace for massive budget cuts and layoffs.” You may be wondering what the real budget picture is for Highline.

I want to bring you up to speed.

Today marks the beginning of our annual Employee Giving Campaign, which benefits the United Way and the Highline Schools Foundation.