A tale of two cities has unraveled within Bellevue throughout the development of the socioeconomic and cultural diversity which we all cherish today. Behind our beautiful Botanical Garden, lavish Bellevue Collections shopping center, and neighborhoods of welcoming family homes, Bellevue is also the home to many families in need who have appreciated the support offered by the City, the schools, and the local community. However, with the recent announcements of the closure of the Highland Village Apartments in addition to the lost Head Start preschool funding, it has become apparent that the growing need within Bellevue is not being recognized, and our diversity is negatively impacted as a result.
The Highland Village Apartments complex next to Stevenson Elementary is being sold and transformed into townhomes for sale. Currently, the families of 85 Bellevue School District (BSD) students reside in these apartments. The closure exacerbates the challenge for low-income families to find affordable housing in Bellevue. Subsidized housing waitlists extend at least two to five years into the future. It is not guaranteed that these students will be able to continue their education in their current schools and programs if they must relocate due to the lack of affordable housing. Uprooting these families from their established communities and support systems creates unnecessary emotional and financial stress for these children and parents, endangering their access to pathways towards success.
Furthermore, in the last two weeks, BSD has lost funding for all of their spots in the Head Start preschool program—151 spots. For the past 17 years, BSD has been a subcontractor with Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), which administers Head Start funding for providers in King and Pierce County. Due to reduced federal funding for the next five years, PSESD has notified the district that they will no longer be able to fund the BSD Head Start program. With this distressing news, some of our most vulnerable families in Bellevue must find safe care for their young children with a little over two months’ notice.
With the recent turn of events, the needs of many Bellevue families are being overlooked. In an effort to change this, the Eastside Pathways Partnership sent a letter to PSESD on June 30 asking them to reconsider the elimination of all funding for Bellevue’s Head Start Program. In addition, the Bellevue Schools Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to help fill the gap in funding.
Eastside Pathways invites you to join our partners and other community members to think of creative solutions to help our families and youngest community members. These impending issues are a call to action within our community, in which we hope you will help us advocate for our Bellevue families in need. As Deeann Puffert, the Executive Director of Child Care Resources, states:
“As a long time early learning professional I have experienced the debilitating impact cuts to early learning services can have on children and families. Cutting all of the Head Start slots in Bellevue is a huge loss to Bellevue’s diverse and needful low-income community of families and children. The importance of these Head Start slots and corresponding services cannot be overstated; particularly in communities where there is huge income disparity that results in few other available options for these families.”
Please stay tuned for more information regarding progress, events, and ways we can help.
Update August 5, 2016
Below is current news coverage of the Early Learning situation in Bellevue.
http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/389116501.html
http://www.bellevuereporter.com/opinion/387874642.html
http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/387799761.html
Update July 26, 2016
Funding for 40 of these slots has been located via alternate sources (DSHS and City of Bellevue scholarship funds).
Deborah Duitch, Stephanie Cherrington and a team from Bellevue Schools Foundation met with BSD leadership. BSD committed to support early learning needs and has pledged $100,000. This leaves the unmet need at about $530,000 or 93 slots.
The Bellevue Schools Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to backfill the Head Start seats. Letters were mailed to individual donors who might be able to fund a preschool seat. Trustee commitments have already raised funds for 3+ seats.
The PSESD board is meeting on Saturday, August 13 at 9 a.m. in Bellevue. Deborah Duitch and Cathy Habib will be coordinating a group to attend and speak during their public comment portion of the meeting. Stay tuned for more details on this.
Article written by Kate Chen, a rising senior at Interlake High School and social media intern at Eastside Pathways