Listen to the Story

Students, staff, veterans, first responders, and community members gathered to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
This year’s ceremony held special significance as the first event hosted at Casey Crate Memorial Plaza at the new Bethel High School. The plaza honors Air Force Staff Sergeant Casey Crate, a Bethel High graduate killed in Iraq in 2005, along with all Bethel alumni who have served in the armed forces.
A joint JROTC color guard from Bethel, Graham-Kapowsin and Spanaway Lake high schools presented the colors and brought dignity and honor to the ceremony.
“As a generation that had not seen the day itself, we make the promise to never forget and to keep the memory alive for those lost on that fateful day,” Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Sandoval said. “Remembering September 11 is not simply about looking backward. It is about understanding our responsibility moving forward.” 
The ceremony honored the victims whose lives were taken, the families who were forever changed, and the countless individuals who answered the call to help. 
“For many of us who served after September 11, the events of that day didn't last for one day. They became years of deployments, missed family events, missed birthdays, holidays, and watching children grow up through photos and videos and phone calls,” Keynote Speaker Major General Tim McGuire, U.S. Army (ret.) said. “Some of us came home changed, and some of us didn't come home at all. But we did this with pride and a fierce sense of purpose to protect our country, our family, and friends, and our fellow Americans.” 
McGuire told the assembled students that sense of purpose and duty wasn’t restricted to those in uniform. “You don't have to be a soldier or airman to serve. You don't have to be a firefighter or a police officer,” he said. “Do the right thing when nobody is watching. Be the person who runs towards a problem rather than away from it. Those choices may seem small, but that's how character is built. And character is what carries people and countries through difficult times.”

Forget tuning into The Pitt for high stakes medical drama. Right here in our district, four Bethel High School seniors are getting a front row seat to the healthcare world. And they’re taking the state by storm!
HOSA is basically the Olympics for future healthcare professionals. And these students recently swept top three spots in Washington state in their respective events.
Seniors Madelynn and Joon competed in “Health Career Display” with a focus on forensic pathology. When it came to research, they went right to the source. During an after-school study session, Joon cold-called the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, who routed her to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Days later, they were collaborating directly with Sierra Plush, Pierce County's Medicolegal Death Investigations Supervisor.
"I feel like forensics usually gets a bad reputation due to it being so taboo, but me and Joon, honestly, we're really interested in forensics and death investigation as a whole to give clarification to grieving families and allow them to mourn in a positive way," Madelynn said. "Even if it's such a morbid thing, I would say it's a really beautiful thing because we're able to bring our community together."
Joon credits HOSA with helping her step out of her shell. "I was always interested in forensics and being a part of the medical field and just helping people out," she said. "When I saw something that gave me an outlet and gave me connections and opportunities to network with people in my local area and compete and show off what I know and what I'm capable of, I thought, 'I really, really want to do this.'"
For Kaydence, HOSA provided a hands-on spark that completely shifted her career goals toward respiratory therapy. "I was really kind of bored with studying books,” she said. “Getting to do the procedures in person and hands-on was definitely so fun for me."
Meanwhile, Marcella took her experience managing the boys basketball team and translated it into a top state finish in life support skills. "Part of the life skill support was stuff similar to what I did in basketball,” she said. “The CPR and the taping. So I had an idea of what I was doing.”
None of these real-world experiences would be possible without the voters of Bethel, who passed the Educational Programs & Operations Levy in February. That community support directly funds district after-school programs like HOSA, alongside athletics, music, and the arts. Thanks to our community, students have the tools and opportunities to chase their biggest dreams.

Across our district, classrooms are moving away from traditional, reactive punishments. Instead, teachers and administrators are working side-by-side to help every student thrive by building real-life skills, teaching them how to navigate conflicts, and creating a sense of belonging in our schools.
The results of this shift speak for themselves: an impressive 70 percent reduction in elementary suspensions districtwide.
A huge part of that success comes down to educators supporting educators.
"At the Behavior Task Force level last year, we started going out to schools to see how it was going in buildings," said teacher and BEA Vice President Traci Overstreet. "So it was teachers checking in on teachers, and we plan on growing that this year.”
That spirit of collaboration has created a momentum that is hard to miss.
"Wow. I'm so inspired," said Jessica Hannigan, a national expert in student behavior systems. "I was getting actually a little emotional just seeing the growth from year one.”
This is the third year Hannigan has been directly involved with our district’s behavior teams.
“They're passionate about it, and they have created amazing systems on their campuses with huge outcomes for students and staff,” she said.
The ultimate goal is to make sure that every student gets exactly what they need, when they need it. That means clearer expectations in hallways, targeted small-group coaching, and specialized lifelines for individual needs. 

School buses are heading back out on the roads, which means it is time for a quick refresher on when to stop for those red flashing lights!
Washington state law (RCW 46.61.370) outlines when drivers must stop for school buses. On a two-lane road, drivers traveling in both directions must stop when the bus’s flashing red lights or retractable stop sign are activated. 
On roads with three or more marked lanes, drivers traveling in the opposite direction are not required to stop. The same exception applies to highways divided into separate roadways. However, drivers traveling in the same direction as the bus must always stop. 
Drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus face a mandatory $500 fine that cannot be waived, reduced, or suspended. 
The Washington state Department of Licensing's Driver Guide reminds drivers to continue watching for children along the roadway even after a bus's red lights stop flashing and its stop sign is retracted. 
Always keep an eye out for yellow buses, slow down in school zones, and remember: when in doubt about whether to stop, play it safe and bring your vehicle to a full stop!
Our bus drivers work hard to get our students to and from school safely each day. Let's help them out by staying alert and driving with caution!

Mornings are hard. Between lost shoes, missed alarms, and the constant race against the clock, just getting your kids out the door can feel like a victory. But every single day your child makes it into the classroom matters more than you might think.
It’s easy to view an absence here and there as no big deal. But missing just two days a month adds up fast. That’s 20 days, or a full month of missed school, in a single year.
When kids miss school, it’s tough for them to catch up when the class has already moved on to the next topic. Missing days also makes kids feel left out of classroom friendships and daily routines.
State data shows that kids with regular attendance find reading and math much easier because they aren't constantly trying to play catch-up.
We know that real life can get in the way of smooth mornings. Sickness, car trouble, stress, and family emergencies are real. If attendance is becoming an issue at your house, please reach out to your school directly. We can work together to tackle whatever barrier you're facing.
Every single morning you get your child to school, you are setting them up to succeed. We know it isn’t always easy, but their learning, sense of belonging, and future will thank you.

At 300,000 square feet and stretching an eighth of a mile door to door, the new Bethel High School is an enormous building. But it wasn't built just to look impressive. It was designed from the ground up for the students who will use it for generations to come.
“What I appreciate most is that the building was designed around how students learn and how they will use the school every day,” Director of Construction Sara Coccia said. “There are flexible learning spaces, collaborative areas, Career and Technical Education opportunities, athletics and performing arts spaces, and places throughout the building where students can gather, connect, and belong.”
But long before construction crews broke ground, this land was already a place of gathering and education.
“This location where the school was built is on the sacred lands of the Puyallup and the Nisqually people,” said Brandon Reynon, Director of Tribal Historic Preservation for the Puyallup Tribe. “That is where our people gathered, where our youth would follow their fathers, and young women would follow their mothers, and gather, and hunt. In those places, they would share their stories. This is where our history was taught. This is where our lessons were taught.” 
The district worked alongside their tribal partners and a mural honoring that history is now located just inside the main entrance of the building. 
The land also carries another local connection. The district acquired part of the property from the Crate family, whose son, Air Force Staff Sergeant Casey Crate, a Bethel High graduate, was killed in Iraq in 2005. Today, at the front of the building, the Casey Crate Memorial Plaza honors him and other Bethel graduates who served.
Getting the new Bethel High School constructed was no small feat. Just starting the project meant pushing through state and county land-use requirements, legislative hurdles, and court challenges. Former Superintendent Tom Seigel, who served Bethel for 23 years, knows that history better than anyone.
“The team at Bethel did not quit, and as a result, we have this beautiful facility today,” said Seigel. “I want to especially recognize the members of the Bethel community who trusted us and supported the 2019 bond measure to make this project a reality. Your trust will be kept, and new Bethel High will be a truly magnificent place for students to learn.”
Inside, the school features a dedicated welding classroom, a gigantic industrial kitchen for culinary students, and a 500-seat auditorium complete with an orchestra pit.
Incoming freshman Kekoa felt the impact right away. “Walking into this building for the first time, everything felt big, modern, and full of possibility,” Kekoa said. “I'm especially excited about joining the band. The new practice rooms, the equipment, and the space built for music makes me feel proud to be part of something that's growing. And beyond band, there are so many activities, clubs, and opportunities here for every student to find their place.”
Everything comes back to students here in Bethel. And everything done here was done with them in mind.
“School is a place where a student discovers something they didn't know they could do,” Coccia said. “It is where a teacher changes the direction of a young person's life. It's where friendships are made. It is where students learn to work together, to overcome setbacks, celebrate successes, and begin to imagine what comes next.”
For generations of students to come, this building will be where those moments happen.
Come Tour the Building! Join us for ABC Day, our annual community celebration on Saturday, October 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tours and more!
 

Everyone wants to live a longer, healthier life, but figuring out how to actually do it -- and then sticking to it -- can be much harder. A transformative new initiative is trying to remove that guesswork entirely by building wellness directly into the daily environment.
Rather than asking individuals to rely on willpower alone, the Blue Zones Project targets the surroundings people navigate every day. Many people recognize the concept from the Netflix documentary series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, which explores regions around the world where people naturally live longer, healthier lives. 
The Blue Zones Project brings those proven principles directly to local neighborhoods. When researchers first evaluated health metrics across Pierce County, they uncovered a stark reality about our home.
"When Blue Zones came into the area and did a discovery of Pierce County, it was discovered that Parkland and Spanaway had the lowest life expectancy than anywhere else in the county," said Queena Tupou, Executive Director of Blue Zones Project Parkland-Spanaway. "And so from there, that was how Parkland and Spanaway was selected as the community."
To change our community's narrative, Tupou and her team came together with community leaders to build a roadmap for real, lasting change. By partnering with schools, local businesses, grocery stores, faith-based organizations, and workplaces, the project shapes surroundings so healthy options feel natural and accessible.
So what that looks like in practice in Parkland-Spanaway: "We take the four core values—which are eating wisely, moving, connecting, and purpose—and we apply that into the community through three pillars: people, places, and policy," Tupou said.
Whether it is improving local park trails to encourage movement, enhancing school nutrition, or strengthening municipal policy to support pedestrian safety, these environmental tweaks add up. Healthy surroundings naturally strengthen social ties and foster civic pride across our district.
As local partners hit their targets, Parkland-Spanaway edges closer to a historic milestone.
"That has been the ultimate goal, and we have to show that through meeting all of our individual goals that were set locally with our partners and with Blue Zones National," Tupou said. "We will be successful because that's just how my team works, and we'll be the first Blue Zone of Pierce County."

More than a dozen Bethel School District seniors walked across the graduation stage in August to receive their diplomas, proving that hard work pays off, no matter the timeline.
The students were graduates of Bethel, Challenger, Graham-Kapowsin, and Spanaway Lake high schools. While our district's 91% on-time graduation rate is something to celebrate, the standard four-year path isn't the only route to success.
For these students, achieving their goals meant putting in extra time, pushing through obstacles, and refusing to step back when the road got tough.
"We talk about persistence and grit mattering. That resilience matters," Superintendent Brian Lowney told the graduates. "That when things get tough, people bounce back, persevere, work through things. You've done that."
These students never gave up on themselves, and Team Bethel never gave up on them.
A high school diploma is far more than a piece of paper. It opens doors to college, trade school, and great careers. Every late hour and extra assignment brought these students to this stage, building real confidence along the way.
"You've worked," Lowney added. "So when the question comes for you later in life about whether you can get through hard things, and finish things, and persevere, that's what you've done."
As these newest graduates look toward the future, they carry more than just their diplomas. They carry the confidence of knowing they can finish what they start, and build the future they want.

Through careful planning, efficient staffing, and prudent financial management, Bethel has successfully delivered a balanced budget for the upcoming school year. The budget reflects our commitment to delivering a high-quality education for every student while being careful stewards of local tax dollars.
However, as district leaders look toward the future, significant state-level funding gaps threaten to pull resources away from our classrooms. 
As one of the biggest employers in Pierce County, the majority of our budget goes to paying the staff who work with students every day. While official budget categories report that 78.3% of expenditures go directly toward salaries and benefits, Superintendent Brian Lowney pointed out that the real investment is even higher.
"In Purchased Services, we’re also paying for people," Lowney said. Purchased Services is a budget category that pays for contracted specialized services for students. "I would tell you that it’s usually closer to 85% of our budget that is going to pay people to do the work of educating our students and taking care of them."
The district has worked hard to streamline administration, keeping district-level operational support to just 4.3% of the total budget. And nearly half of that small percentage is consumed by mandatory fixed expenses, like insurance.
Despite our careful local management, public schools across Washington are facing systemic funding shortfalls from the state government.
One of the largest pressures on our budget is the state’s underfunding of Materials, Supplies, and Operating Costs (MSOC). These are the basic essentials required to keep school buildings open and safe. The state’s current funding formula leaves us with a $21.5 million annual gap between what the state provides and what it actually costs to operate our schools. To keep our facilities running, local levy dollars are used to cover the difference.
Compounding this issue are recent legislative changes to Local Effort Assistance (LEA), a state program designed to help property-poor districts like Bethel. Recent adjustments to state funding formulas have triggered a steep decline in LEA to the tune of $10 million in future years.
"Even though we're anticipating that change in revenue, we did find savings through the budget, resulting in a balanced budget this year," Chief Financial Officer Christine Donnelly said. That’s this year. Next year will be different. "I cannot sit here and say that we can have a balanced budget when we're going to be down $10 million based on the current legislative numbers." she said.
Closing these multi-million-dollar gaps requires legislative action in Olympia. You can find out who represents you and contact them at https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder

For many of our students, graduation day is more than a ceremony. It is the culmination of years of quiet resilience, hard work, and relentless community support.
This year, our McKinney-Vento students -- those experiencing homelessness -- achieved an 84% graduation rate, up from 79% last year. Those are certainly impressive numbers, but behind those statistics are real students overcoming extraordinary circumstances.
Navigating high school while facing housing instability requires deep connection and personalized support. Darius Alexander, our Director of Equity, Access, and Community Engagement, said building trust is the foundational step.
"We work with kids and their families to try to figure out what they need versus what we think they need," Alexander said. "We're super intentional about getting out to schools to really try to work with our students, just building those relationships and making those connections with kids, and then also being intentional about inviting them to programs and educating them about our school system and our school district."
That relational approach is matched by a dedicated network of district staff who walk alongside students every step of the way. Unaccompanied Youth Navigator Tammi Booth said the success comes down to a united front.
"Really, what it comes down to is Team Bethel," Booth said. "So, I'm there, yes, working with the students one-on-one, but it takes a team behind them. And I'm there to help staff use more of our trauma-informed care with our students, so that way they can feel seen and supported."

Transitioning to a new school brings plenty of anxiety, for incoming students and families alike. To help ease that pressure, every middle and high school in our district runs an orientation program before the first bell rings. Middle schools host WEB (Where Everybody Belongs) for incoming 6th graders, while high schools run Link Crew for incoming freshmen.
The goal is simple, to eliminate the first-day jitters. Instead of wandering crowded halls feeling lost on day one, incoming students spend a day before the start of school with trained upperclassmen who know the ropes. They tour the building, locate their classrooms, meet new classmates, and get clear guidance on daily expectations, everything from attendance and cell phone policies to sports and clubs.
These programs ensure new students step onto campus on day one with a layout of the building, an understanding of how things work, and friendly faces of staff and students they already know in the hallways looking out for them.

You are invited to the official dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Bethel High School on August 21 at 1 p.m. Speakers will include former Superintendent Tom Seigel, BHS students, and more! The ceremony will be held in the main gym. Self-guided tours will be available after the ceremony. Everyone is welcome to join us at 7718 224th St. E., Graham, WA 98338.
This massive project has been 19 years in the making. The search for a proper school site began all the way back in 2007. Finding land large enough for a modern high school that also met strict state growth boundaries proved to be an incredibly complex puzzle. When we finally found the right property, the state changed the rules, which put regulatory roadblocks in front of the project. Complaints filed with a state hearing board delayed the project for years, forcing district leaders to take the fight all the way to the Governor’s desk. A bill was finally signed into law in 2017 to let our district build on the property. But money was then needed to build the school our students deserved.
Local voters backed the project when they approved the 2019 School Construction Bond. Thank you, voters! The money from that bond has gone a long way in our community, building:
Challenger High School Phase II Expansion
Evergreen Elementary Modernization and Expansion
Expedition Elementary
Graham-Kapowsin High School Expansion
Katherine G. Johnson Elementary
New Naches Trail Elementary
Security camera upgrades across the district
Turf fields at Graham-Kapowsin and Spanaway Lake high schools
But while those projects were underway, the new Bethel High School project was delayed again.
Updates to county stormwater regulations required our teams to spend a year and a half developing a highly complex underground water model and purchasing additional land just to manage runoff. Throughout it all, our School Board and planning teams remained relentless, refusing to give up on the future of our students. We were finally able to break ground on the new Bethel High School in 2024. 
Because of their stewardship, and the partnership of our community, the stunning new 300,000-square-foot Bethel High School will soon be added to the completed bond project list. The school boasts a dedicated welding classroom, a top-tier culinary space, a 500-seat theater, and – in keeping with the wishes of the Crate family who some of the land was purchased from – a memorial plaza in honor of Casey Crate.
As we prepare for the official dedication on August 21, the historic Bethel High School building will serve another vital purpose. This fall, the old building will become a temporary home to the staff and students of Cedarcrest Middle School. This transition allows the Cedarcrest crew to stay together in a safe, functional learning space while their old school is demolished to make way for a brand-new facility, again, thanks to that 2019 bond. Thank you, voters!
It is thanks to careful planning and additional state funding that Cedarcrest is being completely rebuilt. The original plan under the 2019 School Construction Bond was for a “modernization.” Now it has evolved into a state-of-the-art, brand new, three-story building spanning nearly 123,000 square feet. With 39 modern classrooms, the new Cedarcrest will expand capacity from 700 to 850 students, ensuring our students have room to thrive.
Demolition of the old building is currently underway and the new Cedarcrest is scheduled to open its doors in the fall of 2028.
As we look toward the future, the district has remained committed to being excellent stewards of your tax dollars. Before the heavy machinery arrived, district staff successfully executed a massive, coordinated salvage and relocation effort to ensure the hardware and utility of the old building live on. Rather than letting functional equipment go to waste, hundreds of items were carefully inventoried, claimed, and have already been disbursed to schools across the district.
This sustainability initiative has allowed your tax dollars to stretch even further. Bethel Middle School has already received a massive haul including 30 classroom whiteboards, specialized kitchen equipment, and dozens of storage racks and stools. Pioneer Valley Elementary and Graham Elementary have taken in hundreds of chairs and student desks to completely outfit several of their portables.
Furthermore, essential office equipment, library bookshelves, and teacher desks have been integrated into Liberty Middle School and Kapowsin Elementary.
By repurposing these items across the district, the Bethel School District has minimized environmental waste and saved thousands of dollars in new equipment costs for other buildings. Change is happening fast, and we are incredibly grateful for a community that continues to invest in the future of our students. Thank you, voters!
We look forward to sharing more construction updates as we build a bigger, brighter future for Cedarcrest Middle School.

The exciting transformation of Cedarcrest Middle School is officially underway as demolition crews have already begun clearing the old site to make way for a brand-new era. 
What began as a modernization plan under our voter-approved 2019 School Construction Bond has successfully evolved into a complete, state-of-the-art school rebuild, thanks to careful planning and additional state funding. 
The new Cedarcrest will be a beautiful, three-story, 123,000-square-foot building featuring 39 modern classrooms. Designed to expand capacity from 700 to 850 students, the new school will ensure our students have the room they need to thrive when it opens its doors in the fall of 2028.
As we look toward the future, the district has remained committed to being excellent stewards of your tax dollars. Before the heavy machinery arrived, district staff successfully executed a massive, coordinated salvage and relocation effort to ensure the hardware and utility of the old building live on. Rather than letting functional equipment go to waste, hundreds of items were carefully inventoried, claimed, and have already been disbursed to schools across the district.
This sustainability initiative has allowed your tax dollars to stretch even further. Bethel Middle School has already received a massive haul including 30 classroom whiteboards, specialized kitchen equipment, and dozens of storage racks and stools. Pioneer Valley Elementary and Graham Elementary have taken in hundreds of chairs and student desks to completely outfit several of their portables.
Furthermore, essential office equipment, library bookshelves, and teacher desks have been integrated into Liberty Middle School and Kapowsin Elementary.
By repurposing these items across the district, the Bethel School District has minimized environmental waste and saved thousands of dollars in new equipment costs for other buildings. Change is happening fast, and we are incredibly grateful for a community that continues to invest in the future of our students. Thank you, voters! We look forward to sharing more construction updates as we build a bigger, brighter future for Cedarcrest Middle School.

Legislators have made drastic changes to the way they financially support school districts. These changes are going to take tens of millions of dollars out of our district’s budget unless something is done. But before you call Olympia, let’s rewind and get the full story.
Earlier this year, voters approved the renewal of our Educational Programs & Operations Levy and our Technology Levy. Thank you, voters! We all know that levies aren’t just for the “extras” anymore. Of course they do fund the things the state doesn’t, like athletics, but they also fund the things the state isn’t fully funding, and that includes some big ticket items.
“Twenty million dollars is going towards materials, supplies and operating costs,” said Superintendent Brian Lowney. “Things like insurance and utilities and keeping the lights on and all the rest. And then $5 million is going into special education. Another portion is going to transportation.”
That’s a big change that is not unique to Bethel. Levies originally started as a way for communities to decide if they want to fund the extras, like sports and music. But more and more, communities are now voting if they want to keep the lights on in classrooms or not. 
In the past, when communities passed levies, property-poor school districts like Bethel would also get some additional state money, called Local Effort Assistance (LEA). When our community passed the levies in February, that LEA money was incorporated into our budget. And that’s when the legislature changed the rules.
“What that means for us is that we are anticipating less revenue in future years,” said Chief Financial Officer Christine Donnelly. “It's to the tune of $10 million in 2027-28.” 
Yes, you read that correctly. Bethel will see $10 million less money than the state promised starting in 2027, unless something is done. And this change is impacting other districts too … just not the rich ones.
“Seattle can raise a billion dollars through levies because they're property-rich,” said Superintendent Lowney. “LEA is intended to make things equitable for our students. It shouldn’t matter what zip code a kid lives in whether they get a good education or not.” 
You can assume that Bethel and other property-poor districts across the state will be talking with their legislators about this, but hearing from people like you can make a huge difference. So reach out to the folks that represent you in Olympia and let them know your thoughts. You can find out who your representatives are and get their contact information at https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder 
A note on federal funding
As one of the biggest employers in Pierce County, Bethel employs over 3,000 staff to support 21,000 students across 31 schools. It’s a lot of work and requires a lot of money.
With funding issues like LEA, maintaining a balanced budget is becoming more and more difficult. That’s why it’s important to understand the district’s entire budget, which includes money coming from the federal government.
There have been rumors and rumblings over the years about ongoing federal support for education, and without getting into the politics, that federal support is less than ten percent of our district's budget. But it does impact every student in the district.
“I mean, no one is going to sneeze at $40 million,” said Superintendent Brian Lowney. “Of that $40 million, about half of our federal money is for Child Nutrition.” Along with money from the state, those federal dollars are the reason we have free meals for all students.The other half of our federal money is earmarked for special education, and Title programs – all of which support our most at risk students.
The education and well-being of our students is our number one priority here in Bethel. If you’d like to reach out to your representatives in Washington D.C., you can find their contact information here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member 

For a school district, a true balanced budget will show the money going in being the same as the money going out. And for the 2026/27 school year, that’s exactly what we have on the table, thanks to a lot of hard work behind the scenes.
On top of a balanced budget, the district also just finished our annual audit from the state, which once again was a clean audit, countering some online opinions that we’re “mismanaging taxpayer dollars.” That’s something School Board President Marcus Young takes seriously.
“I keep hearing this narrative that Bethel is mismanaging funds, we're top-heavy, we're just spending all of this money in all of these other different places.” Young said that’s simply not true. “We do smart things when it comes to the budget.”
To his point, most of our money comes from student enrollment. Basically, this means the more students we have the more money we get from the state to support them. For the past four years our enrollment has been relatively flat. That’s not a bad thing, as districts around us have seen declining enrollment, but Superintendent Brian Lowney still has concerns.
“Students are our priority. Students are also, from a business model, they're the revenue generator,” he said. “Enrollment is the only thing that drives revenue to the district … we want revenues to be at least as big as expenses.”
For the past four years we’ve had right around 19,800 full time students. Due to that trend, we’re budgeting no growth for next year as well. Deputy Superintendent David Hammond said that conservative approach is critically important with the budgeting process.
“We could budget based on 30,000 kids if we wanted to. At the end of the year, we'd be in a lot of trouble,” he said. “We're identifying trends early. We identified the kindergarten trend after COVID and budgeted and staffed accordingly. So, that's why you see it's just a very simple thing, but other districts didn't pay attention to those trends.”
That’s how Bethel is able to present a balanced budget to our community for the upcoming school year. Alongside that, the state’s annual audit showed no issues. We are doing things by the book. And those books are wide open. Our School Board got a preview of the budget at the end of June, and they’ll take another look on August 11, 2026. You are welcome to attend the meeting in person at the Educational Service Center or via Zoom. 

A red Abbey Road Studio sign hangs above a small conference room at district headquarters. Abbey Road is, of course, where the Beatles recorded 190 of their legendary hits. Here in Bethel, this tiny room is where our flagship podcast will soon record its 190th episode.
"We’re not comparing ourselves to the Beatles by any stretch of the imagination,” co-host Doug Boyles said with a laugh. “And they’re not comparing themselves to us. It’s an agreement we’ve come to."
Boyles serves as the district’s Director of Communications, and the podcast is just one of many ways our district shares information with students, staff, families, and the larger community. 
As the show heads into its fifth season, the podcast’s long and winding road has introduced listeners to hundreds of staff and students from across the district -- all on a shoestring budget.
"It’s really something we were already doing without knowing it," Boyles said. "We would record interviews and then transcribe the audio to write articles. We just added an intro and outro, and tried to tighten up our questions to make ourselves sound like good hosts.”"We’re not really that good," joked co-host Conor Christofferson. "But a little light editing goes a long way." And with an annual $100 hosting fee, a podcast was born.
After it airs, each episode is turned into other media so the information can be shared across the district in a variety of ways, from the pages of the Bethel Pride magazine to the district’s Facebook page. The goal is simple: to connect our community with the amazing people and stories inside our classrooms.
When they aren't in their amateur Abbey Road studio, the duo takes the show on the road, recording the podcast at different schools to meet staff and students right where they are. For both hosts, the best part of the job is giving the microphone to the kids.
"One thing we love about the podcast is amplifying student voice," Christofferson said. "It’s so important for students to be heard because they have a perspective that no staff member has. Every decision we make here -- whether it’s with the budget, curriculum, or athletics -- impacts them directly."
Last season, a Spanaway Lake High School senior named Millicent even took over the podcast, producing an entire episode focused on cell phones in schools.
The Bethel School District Presents podcast has been riding a magical mystery tour of success in recent years. The National School Public Relations Association has recognized the show as one of the best education podcasts in the country, awarding it Awards of Excellence in 2023, 2025, and 2026.
The new season kicks off on August 5 with Episode 180, which will be all about our district’s budget, recent audit, and financial issues that may impact our students in the future. You can listen to the show at bethelsd.org/podcast or subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, or wherever you listen to quality audio.