Thursday, October 1, 2026
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) representatives and the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee convened in a work session on March 26 to tackle the potential impacts of changes in federal law on school districts in Washington.
The structure of the state's public common school system, as per state law, is Legislature, governor, OSPI, state board of education, educational service district boards of directors, and local school district boards of directors.
Capital ESD 113 serves students attending Olympia School District, North Thurston Public Schools and Tumwater School District, along with other school districts in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston Counties.
ESDs were created in 1969 by the state Legislature to help school districts save money by pooling resources, providing essential services, and helping OSPI implement education initiatives.
One of the federal directives discussed in the session relates to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matters wherein the administration has issued various executive orders or “Dear Colleague” letters since January that impact K-12 systems.
The Feb. 14 letter from U.S. Department of Education Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor aims to “cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends.”
In response to the executive order and letter, Reykdal released a statement on Feb. 20 directing school districts to not make any changes to existing policies.
“I want to be clear: Dear Colleague Letters do not hold the power of law. … I’ve advised Washington’s school districts that they should not make changes to their existing policies, practices, and programming in accordance with this letter,” said Reykdal in his statement.
Susan Lathrop, OSPI Assistant Superintendent of Educator Growth & Development, said OSPI's guidance to school districts “is always embedded in state law.”
“What the superintendent has told school districts is that ‘you need to follow state law.’ And executive orders don't carry the weight of law,” said T.J. Kelly, Chief Financial Officer at OSPI.
Reykdal also wrote that OSPI is closely engaged with the Attorney General’s Office, and mulls legal options if any federal dollars are frozen or removed from the state’s school system based on the letter.
“Public education is a civil right in our country, and that in itself is DEI. I’m proud of the work we’ve done in Washington state, and we are not going backward,” Reykdal said.
The total federal revenue is $1.9 billion for the 2023-24 school year, which is the most recently closed academic year with available data.
Kelly clarified the figure includes the tail-end of the COVID-19 relief money that has lapsed and is no longer available for districts.
Taking out the COVID-19 relief money from the total federal revenue would result in a $1.4 billion figure or about 7% of total revenue for school districts for the 2023-24 school year.
The key sources of federal funding are the $361 million National School Lunch Program, $310 million Title I Funds, $275 million Special Education Grants and $120 million Impact Aid Funds.
“When you look at the areas of the state that would be most impacted by a loss of federal funds … you can see that we're primarily targeting rural communities,” Kelly said.
If federal funding should either lapse or if the rules associated with federal funding would conflict with state law, the rural areas would be of greatest concern, leaving the state in a challenging position.
Congress authorizes federal funding for the upcoming fiscal period, making it “forward-funded.”
Funds passed through OSPI are on a reimbursement basis to districts to ensure expenditures align with the school district’s budget, both for the funds passing through OSPI and federal requirements.
“The district spends the money then they come in, and they ask for reimbursement through our grant system, and then we actually have to ask reimbursement from the federal government,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that fewer Department of Education staff brought about by possible funding reductions could mean delays in technical and constituent support, increased uncertainty, and a potential increase in legal costs for school districts.
“If there's changes to the federal programs … one possible change would be the creation of block grants,” Kelly said.
A block grant is the provision of a lump sum, which lets the district decide how much money gets allocated toward each purpose as long as it meets the goals.
Uncertainties brought by a block grant issue may cause districts to delay programs until answers are available to ensure they are not violating federal laws.
Kelly said “when in doubt, follow state law,” as there are civil rights laws that the state is leaning into.
“Most Department of Education programs center on assurances that education will provided in a manner that protects students’ civil rights,” Kelly said.
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Honestyandrealityguy
So many students are now going to private school. They want to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Whereas, the public schools, teachers, unions are avoiding that and rather teach "whatever the heck" they are doing. Apparently, it takes executive active to return to common sense. My opinion.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 Report this
Boatyarddog
Honestandrealityguy!
BrainCancer is deadly. Go see a reality Doctor.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 Report this
Snevets
“Public education is a civil right in our country, and that in itself is DEI. I’m proud of the work we’ve done in Washington state, and we are not going backward,” Reykdal said.
✊✊✊
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 Report this
Jimkyo
Back when Tim Eyman was pushing through tax cuts the state "rescued" the rural areas that would be most affected by the resulting cutbacks in public building and services--even though the rural counties were the greatest supporters of Tim's initiatives. That just encouraged more such initiatives--since their supporters didn't take the resultant hit.
Hopefully we've learned from that. Trump's supporters were largely rural. If his cutbacks to education funding primarily hit rural areas so be it.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 Report this
ChuckCross
Sounds like OSPI AND THE FEDS have a total lock on how federal funds are spent. School districts must spend their funds BEFORE OSPI even requests the federal funds be released (according to this article). Hopefully Reykdal and the Attorney Generals office will follow through on the stated stance of upholding State's Rights.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 Report this