Q. Why isn't the district doing more to address growing student needs?

Q: If we know student behavioral and emotional needs are affecting kids’ ability to learn, why aren’t our schools doing more to address it?

A: Healthy, supported kids are ready to learn.

Six years on the school board have changed my understanding of what it takes for schools to meet students’ behavioral and emotional needs.

Schools are a logical place to provide support. Staff spend their days with students and are often in a unique position to recognize when a child is struggling. But schools’ ability to respond is shaped by state requirements, funding, and rising costs.

Our district already does a lot. We have counselors, social workers, support staff, and community partnerships. Our bell-to-bell restriction on personal devices is another step toward a healthier learning environment where students can focus, connect, and learn.

But the need has grown, and our resources have not always kept pace.

State requirements for non-exclusionary discipline, keeping students in school while addressing behavioral needs, are one example. The goal is well-intended, but the professional development and additional staffing needed to implement these practices effectively have not come with adequate funding.

The state’s Safe Schools levy is another example. It remains at $36 per adjusted pupil unit, the same level established in 2013, despite the growing responsibilities schools are being asked to address.

I’ve also made difficult budget decisions that meant reducing supports I would have preferred to preserve. Those decisions have shown me firsthand how challenging it is to balance student needs with competing priorities and limited resources.

Salaries and benefits make up more than 75% of our district’s spending, and special education and transportation are also significant cost drivers. These investments support students and the people who serve them, but they leave limited flexibility when costs rise, student needs grow, and funding doesn't keep pace.

I want our schools to be able to do more to support students, too. But I can’t responsibly promise additional supports without being honest about the trade-offs. If we add resources in one area, where would we cut to pay for them? What services or supports would we be willing to reduce? School board members have a responsibility to ask these difficult questions. Identifying what students need is one thing, but making the choices required to provide it is another.

School boards are responsible for difficult budget decisions, but they don’t control the legislative decisions, funding, and rising costs that shape those choices. Lasting solutions require looking beyond individual budget decisions to the underlying issues. Are state mandates adequately funded? Do districts have adequate local operating revenue? Are funding increases keeping pace with inflation, rising costs, and students’ growing needs?

School boards, district leaders, staff, families, and community members all have perspectives worth sharing. We need to bring those experiences to state legislators and advocate for funding that keeps pace with the responsibilities schools are being asked to meet.

Our strategic plan recognizes that the whole child matters. We can be proud of the work happening in our schools, acknowledge that more is needed, and work together to ensure schools have the resources to provide it.