The Bellevue School District is moving forward with $20 million in budget cuts for the 2025–26 school year as it works to address ongoing financial shortfalls. Superintendent Dr. Kelly Aramaki outlined the district’s fiscal situation during the August 7, 2025 school board meeting, citing years of operating costs exceeding revenue and a steady depletion of cash reserves.
Since 2018, the district has consistently spent more than it has brought in—about $10 million more per year since the COVID-19 pandemic—draining reserves below the 5% minimum required by board policy.
Factors include rising costs, increased student needs, and what Aramaki described as inadequate state funding. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has placed the district on its financial warning list.
In recent years, the district has cut over $20 million from its budget, closing two elementary schools, consolidating operations, reducing central office staff, and scaling back programs. Despite these measures, expenses have continued to outpace revenue.
The $20 million in new cuts—up from an earlier estimate of $16 million—are needed after the district was only able to achieve about $6 million in reductions this year, short of its $10 million target. The upcoming cuts are expected to eliminate between 150 and 170 positions, about 7% of staff.
The spending reduction plan was developed with community input and parameters set by the school board, and was first formally proposed on February 6, 2025. The district says the goal is to “right-size” spending and restore financial stability.
Enrollment has rebounded to pre-pandemic 2020 levels, thanks to expanded programs and outreach, but the district will end the 2024–25 school year with a negative fund balance after using reserves to fill state funding gaps. On July 10, the district entered “binding conditions” with OSPI, giving it access to proceeds from surplus property sales to rebuild reserves.
The school board recently approved the sale of $30 million in surplus property, with the transaction expected to close by spring 2027. Additional revenue from increased local levy authority will begin in 2026, adding $5 million per year initially and $10 million annually in later years, but officials say this will not fully solve structural funding problems.
Aramaki emphasized that ongoing annual cuts will be necessary to keep spending within revenue until the state addresses underlying funding issues. He praised community support, highlighting a recent $45,000 donation from Bellevue Lifespring to pay off student meal debt ahead of the new school year.
