It is the policy of the Seattle School Board that budgetary formulas and staffing standards determining school budgets within Seattle Public Schools be reviewed annually in the budget development process to ensure service of the academic needs of their students, within the confines of the district’s annual budget.  

The Seattle School Board directs the Superintendent to implement a school funding model that provides a core foundation which includes necessary resources for teachers, teachers support and administrative support for academic success for all students of Seattle Public Schools and uses the following guiding principles:  

1. Provide the basic staffing for school – adjusted for substantive size differential considering non-instructional costs;  

2. Result in a transparent school funding model that schools, families, and community members can understand;  

3. Provide the core staffing needed for schools to focus on academic issues;  

4. Based on data, provide personnel differentially to schools on the basis of student characteristics, including poverty, bilingual, special education, highly capable, and academic performance levels; 

5. Align resources with funding requirements, state and federal grant requirements, and contractual obligations;  

6. Align staff adjustments with changing student populations and school level administrative duties; 

7. Invest more resources in early learning (K-3); and 

8. Provide continuity of programs by attempting to retain core staff levels from year-to-year. 

The Superintendent shall establish procedures or administrative guidelines to support the implementation of this policy.