The School Board recently held a Study Session to review recommendations for next year’s replacement levies.

Both the Educational Programs and Operations Levy and the Technology Capital Levy will be up for renewal in 2026, pending Board approval. 

Superintendent Brian Lowney said these would be true replacement levies. That means, they will both be at the same tax rate voters approved last time.

Even though the district could collect up to $2.50 per $1,000, Lowney said keeping tax rates consistent for our community was a priority.

“We know what our district needs and we’re not asking for more than we need,” said Lowney. “Times are hard for folks. We understand that.”

Both levies are critical funding for our district and fund hundreds of salaries for positions that the state underfunds, or doesn’t pay for at all. The EP&O also funds activities, athletics and the arts. 

Lowney said those three things can be the reason some kids decide to show up to school each day.

“I believe that kids that have a strong connection to their school is the number one indicator about whether kids are successful or not,” he said.

Whether that reason is a classroom teacher, football practice, the school play, or an afterschool program, the levy supports all of them.

The Board will meet again in November to officially consider putting the recommendations on the ballot. If approved, Election Day would be February 10, 2026.

Keep up with the latest at bethelsd.org/levy

Bethel’s Title VI Native American Education Program serves hundreds of students from more than 100 tribal nations across the country. Covering 202 square miles of land once shared by the Puyallup, Steilacoom, and Nisqually tribes, the district remains committed to honoring Indigenous heritage and creating spaces of belonging for every student.

The following projects were funded by the 2019 School Construction Bond and are now complete. Combined, they’ve added 181 classrooms (new and renovated) to our district! When the New Bethel High School and New Cedarcrest Middle School are complete, that will add another 107 classrooms!

Executive Director of Operations Paul Marquardt emphasized the district’s commitment to completing the projects on time and within the overall bond budget. “This is a huge celebration,” he said. “The massive inflation we’ve had, the massive set backs and supply chain issues that we had — for our overall bond plan to be on schedule, on target, is huge.”

Sometimes the best careers grow out of simply caring about kids and wanting to help. Angie Cochenour is a mom who turned her love of helping kids into a career as a special education teacher. Today she teaches preschool at Naches Trail Elementary.

More than a decade ago, Angie volunteered regularly at her kids’ schools, helping out wherever she could. Eventually, someone asked her a question that changed everything, "Are you getting paid yet?"

In October, the School Board reviewed our annual audit reports and also received an enrollment update that shows we're holding our own in challenging times.

The annual audit review had a trifecta of good audit outcomes: no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, no material noncompliance, and an unmodified opinion. Joanne Klein, Director of Accounting and Purchasing, summed it up perfectly when she told the Board, "At the end of the day it was a good clean audit."

This clean audit reflects the hard work and attention to detail from our Business Office and demonstrates strong fiscal management across the district.

Following the audit report, Chief Financial Officer Christine Donnelly provided the Board with our October 1, 2025 enrollment numbers. As you know, student FTE drives our state apportionment revenue, so these numbers directly impact our funding and budget.

While many districts have experienced enrollment declines since COVID (resulting in reduced funding) Bethel has maintained steady enrollment. This stability has been essential as we navigate the same financial pressures affecting districts everywhere. Donnelly noted that while kindergarten enrollment was lower this year, we saw an increase in secondary enrollment. The overall picture shows modest growth. Superintendent Brian Lowney was cautiously optimistic and called it a "preliminarily slight increase."

You can learn more about both of these topics by watching the full Board meeting here.

Every school day in Bethel begins with a simple guarantee: no child will go hungry. And this year, thanks to the hard work of our Child Nutrition staff, every student in the district qualifies for free breakfast and lunch. That's tens of thousands of meals prepared and served for free across the district.

When Bethel Middle School teacher Nelago Nuunyango tells her students that education can change their lives, she speaks from experience. Nuunyango’s own journey stretches from moonlit study sessions in rural Namibia to the halls at Pacific Lutheran University, and finally to the desks of her students at Bethel Middle.

News and updates from around the district.

This year we’ve seen a lot of news stories about school districts who are struggling to pay the bills. Neighboring districts saw budget cuts, layoffs, and state intervention in one case. But here at home, Bethel seems to be staying the course financially. How is that?

School finances in uncertain times

Thanks to forward thinking and conservative budgeting, our district has been able to weather these uncertain times, even as inflation and rising costs strained budgets across the state.

“What truly sets Bethel apart is how we’ve managed these challenges,” said Chief Financial Officer Christine Donnelly. “While other districts have faced serious setbacks, we’ve avoided those pitfalls by planning ahead and making responsible choices. Thanks to our careful budgeting and the hard work of our staff and leaders, we’ve been able to stay focused on what matters most – supporting our students, staff, and schools.”

Where our money comes from

The bulk of the district’s revenue comes from three primary sources:

Why levies matter

Our EP&O levy isn’t unique to Bethel. Levies are a normal form of school funding in Washington state. In fact, over 100 districts will have EP&O levies on the ballot for renewal next year. Bethel will have renewals of both our EP&O Levy and our Technology Capital Projects Levy on the ballot in 2026, pending School Board approval.

By law, Bethel is permitted to collect more than we do for the EP&O levy. Though we’re one of the top 15 largest school districts in Washington, there are 100 districts that actually collect more than we do for their EP&O levies!

For us, levies are not just helpful, they're essential funding.

“Because the state doesn’t fully fund education, renewing these two levies is critical for Bethel,” said Donnelly. “Together, they provide about 11% of our budget, helping us fund classroom teachers, support staff, and programs that give students the opportunities and support they need to succeed. Levy dollars also help keep our schools safe, well-maintained, and ready for learning.”

They also give us the ability to adapt.

“Most importantly, levies give us the flexibility to respond to rising costs and changing needs, ensuring that our students continue to get the best education possible,” Donnelly said. “Thank you to our community for supporting Bethel’s levies over the years, you’ve made a huge difference for our students.”

Challenges all districts face

Bethel isn’t immune to the broader issues affecting public education. “Across the state, school districts are all facing similar challenges, said Donnelly. “The cost of running schools has gone up significantly with inflation, but state funding hasn’t kept pace. At the same time, schools are competing for great teachers and staff, which pushes salaries higher than what the state provides funding for.”

Bethel has fared better than some districts because its student enrollment has stayed steady, but that doesn’t mean we’re coasting. Financial pressures are very real.

“Many districts have also seen student enrollment decline since COVID, which means less funding for them. Here in Bethel, our enrollment has stayed steady, which has helped—but we’re still navigating the same financial pressures that all districts are working through.”

The future isn’t without challenges, but our leadership remains committed to transparency, responsibility, and long-term planning.

“We know there are still financial pressures ahead,” said Donnelly. “But we’re confident that by working together and staying proactive, we can continue to keep Bethel strong.”

Recently, our School Board held a Study Session to discuss student safety with a panel of staff members, including one of our School Resource Officers. The conversation centered around how we protect the physical and the emotional safety of our students. 

When it comes to emotional safety, staff are always working to build relationships with students to help support them, and to remove barriers to their education. This is a job for all staff, including our counselors and social workers.

Counselors and social workers help students in a variety of ways, from referrals for anxiety, depression, and mental health issues, as well as anything that gets in the way of a student's education, including family and friend dynamics, and connecting students and families with community resources.

Catherine Kimball is a social worker from Graham-Kapowsin High School. She told the Board that those are all things many students need, which is why we have counselors and social workers in every school in the district.

“We had social workers prior to the pandemic, which was really good and very proactive,” she said. “And we found from the pandemic how important social workers in our schools were.”

Because the state doesn’t fully fund enough counselors and social workers for the number of students we have, our Educational Programs and Operations Levy helps support these vital positions. And even then, it’s still not enough. 

Kimball is the only social worker at GKHS, which has a student population of over 2,100. There are six counselors at the school but Kimball said while their jobs have some overlap, they are different. School Board Vice President Marcus Young voiced his concerns about that.

“If a kid is struggling mentally, how do we expect them to sit in a classroom and really be able to retain and take in what's being taught?” he said. “And we have one person for 2,100 students trying to passionately give everything they have for every student.” 

Board member Roseanna Camacho agreed and called out the State’s funding model as being “wholly inadequate.” She went on to praise the work being done by staff, but also called out one of the bigger issues all school districts are facing.

“We have so many programs and systems in place, but one of the hardest things about dealing with violence in schools is the randomness of it. It’s the fact that we can’t predict it. We don’t know where it’s going to come from,” she said.

Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Jodi Greyeyes said that’s why it’s so important for staff to build those relationships with students and help foster a sense of belonging. So when students see something that concerns them, they’ll have a trusted adult to talk to.

“That feeling of connection helps,” she said. “It just helps students thrive. We know it lights up parts of our brains neurologically and so we need that connection with others. That's really been a focus area.”

That sense of belonging is key, and Greyeyes said there is a lot of other work being done as well to foster that, including instructional materials for staff and curriculum for students. 

Additionally, Kimball said last year all of our 9th graders were trained in Teen Mental Health First Aid. “What that does is it teaches students how to help themselves and how to help others. How to identify signs and symptoms of mental health crises or the onset of a mental health issue or struggle that might be going on,” she said.

You can watch video of the entire Study Session at https://bethelsd.diligent.community/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=558