Families in the Franklin Pierce School District will see fewer teachers and staff in classrooms this fall after the district eliminated about 50 positions to cope with rising costs.

The 14-school district just south of Tacoma is one of several across Washington opening the 2026-27 year with smaller staffs, KNKX Public Radio reported Sunday, Sept. 20. The district said many of the eliminated positions were held by educators.

Superintendent Lance Goodpaster said escalating costs forced the district to drain its fund balance. Now, he told KNKX, "the escalating cost of doing business … is forcing us to make additional cuts so that we can rebuild that fund balance."

Rising insurance premiums, utility bills and special-education costs are squeezing districts statewide, according to the report.

In May, roughly 130 districts learned their electricity rates would jump an average of 45% this school year, according to the Tacoma Daily Index.

Franklin Pierce is not alone.

Bellingham Public Schools started the year with about 60 fewer positions, more than half of them teachers. Port Angeles lost eight teaching positions. Tacoma Public Schools made its own staffing adjustments earlier this fall as the same cost pressures ripple across the state.

Anneliese Kellogg, a music teacher at Midland Elementary and president of the Franklin Pierce School District Education Association, said the staffing losses hit students directly. She told KNKX that larger class sizes mean less individual attention for each child. One wall in Kellogg's office at Midland Elementary is plastered floor to ceiling with thank-you cards from students.

State's K-12 share has dropped 10 points since 2019

The share of Washington's general fund going to K-12 schools fell from 52% in 2019 to 42% in 2025, according to state fiscal data cited by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal. Statewide enrollment dropped more than 4% over the same period, a decline the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) attributes to falling birth rates and families choosing alternatives to public school since the pandemic.

A record 11 school districts are now under binding state financial oversight.

Reykdal is asking the Legislature for nearly $2 billion more in the 2027-2029 budget, including $1.2 billion he says is needed to meet the state's constitutional obligation to fund basic education under the McCleary court ruling.

His request also includes $100 million to cover substitute-teacher costs and nearly $225 million to raise pay for classified staff and paraeducators.

"We understand it's going to be a heck of a battle up there," Reykdal said at a Sept. 10 news conference when he unveiled the request, as reported by the Washington State Standard.

What comes next

Gov. Bob Ferguson plans to release his first two-year budget proposal in mid-December. The legislative session begins in January, when lawmakers will face a significant budget shortfall and competing demands for state dollars.

Reykdal's request lands on legislators' desks alongside a record number of districts under state financial oversight and classrooms across Pierce County that already have fewer adults in them.