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State legislators restore alternative education dollars

About-face may spare popular programs in Clark County

By Howard Buck
Published: March 2, 2010, 12:00am

State legislators have reversed course, acting to restore funds for alternative learning programs that serve thousands of Washington public school students, including hundreds in Clark County.

Online learning and homeschool boosters cheered the move.

They claimed credit for mounting swift protest last week after House leaders unveiled a supplemental budget plan for 2011 that would have eliminated $22.7 million allocated to alternative programs for students in grades K-6.

Programs for students in grades 7-12 also might have been endangered by the proposal.

“Your calls and letters did the job,” wrote Rich Dingle, president of Washington Families for Online Learning, in an e-mail message sent to members and the media.

On Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously passed an amendment offered by Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, that completely restores the alternative education funding.

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That could spare popular programs such as Cam Junior-Senior High School and HomeLink in the Battle Ground district, Home Choice Academy in the Evergreen district and Home Connections in the Vancouver district.

The new House plan calls for more rigorous financial accounting by school districts on alternative programs, including private firm costs.

Cutting budget elsewhere

To find new savings to replace the original proposed budget cuts, the revised House Bill 2824 adopts a new statewide school bus depreciation payment plan.

State dollars to help cover sales tax costs of replacement buses would come in an ending lump-sum payment, rather than in yearly increments.

Deferring those payments frees up millions of state dollars.

The revised Ways and Means budget plan still must navigate intense negotiating in order to win full House approval. A Senate budget plan issued last week would not cut alternative education spending.

Legislators seek about $214 million in total K-12 education spending cuts to help close an estimated $2.8 billion state shortfall.

Local educators were pleased by the apparent about-face in Olympia.

The Vancouver district “is extremely pleased to see that online learning may be saved at the middle school level as we are making great strides in reaching out to kids” across the area, said budget director Steve Olsen.

Battle Ground school Superintendent Shonny Bria called alternative programs an “integral part” of the district and expressed relief. “We are all family,” she said.

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.

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