Rural Washington Schools Face Budget Crisis

0:00It's April 6th. This is Vancouver News today, your AI-powered local news. rural Washington schools in timber country are getting hit hard by a drop in state force revenue. Take the Mount Baker school district. It's staring down a budget hole over $1 million deep, thanks to slumping sales from state lands. Three years back, they signed binding conditions, letting the state run their finances, which meant slashing 30 jobs and packing more kids into classrooms. This isn't just one spot. It's a pattern for rural districts relying on those old trust lands managed since 1889. Newlands Commissioner Dave of the Grove, elected in 2024, hit pause on 23 timber sales right away and later pulled. 77,000 acres of older forests out of the logging lineup. Revenue's dipped from $186 million in 2022 to $134 million last year. With schools like Eatonville losing expected cash from Paul Sales, forcing them to rent

1:01fields for sports since their tracks are unsafe. District report job losses like over 20 in Cedars-Willie and warn of potential county bankruptcies if sales keep lagging. Timber groups blast the moobs, saying older trees are prime cash cows for schools. Up the Grove pushes back, blaming low-lumber prices and old deals, insisting no cuts to the timber program and eyeing new income like carbon credits or selective cuts. State schools chief Chris Rakedall calls timber dependence outdated, urging the legislature to step up stable funding instead of volatile harvests. Both sides nod to the fix, ditch the guesswork on tree money, which now barely dense school budgets anyway. Time to build reliable paths forward for education and forests alike.