The foyer at Eastlake High School was packed – parents sat in the stairwells and at makeshift tables in the corridors – students legs dangled from the balconies.

As the Lake Washington School District, as well as the Issaquah School District, contemplates how to cut about $8 million from its budget for the next year, it has asked for parents, school staff and students to speak up about their education priorities, to help officials make a decision on what programs will go, and what needs to be protected.

“We will budget by priority,” said Lake Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball.

He stood before almost 300 people that came to the public meeting on Thursday night to hear, and be heard.

As the chief executive officer for the district, it is Kimball’s hand that will ultimately sign into effect the program and staff cuts needed to meet the requirements of a state budget that is being recognized by many as one of the poorest education budgets in the nation.

But he, and his department, are taking steps so they are not seen to making those decisions alone.

To this end they have embarked on a program of public input sessions where concerned citizens can submit on paper what they think can afford to be cut; from support for at risk students, to training days for teachers, or compensation for after-school activities.

“All of those things we think are important, so it’s tough work,” Kimball said, recognizing that every individual will have their own thoughts on what is important. “But we can’t have it both ways. We can’t keep class sizes low and not cut things on the other side of the ledger.”

“We want you, as a community, to grapple with the tradeoffs.”

“If we don’t do anything, I guarantee you we will be laying off teachers.”

To watch a video of Dr Kimball’s presentation, click here Kimball said that one of the things that frustrated budget considerations was that many areas, like new technology and transportation, had requirements under state law, and so some of the money allocated them could not be used elsewhere.

He said that it was his job to listen to the thoughts of the public and see how they translated into acceptable budgeting.

“I will take all of those great ideas, and see if we can make them work. A lot of those great ideas are not legal, however,” Kimabll said, a comment that brought a warm and genuine chuckle from the crowd.

In fact, the mood of the meeting was, in general, cooperative and good-natured.

It seems the parents and friends of schools are aware that it is not Kimball and the school district that are to blame, but the state government that has handed them a budget which places Washington in the bottom tier of education spending, investing less in education that states like Louisiana, the third poorest of all 52 states.

According to Education Week, by K-12 per pupil spending it ranks 44th in the nation, and 46th in the nation on public school financing compared to personal income.

Kimball said that the options to be considered included initiatives like raising class sizes in high schools in order to keep elementary class sizes down.

Every person at the meeting was given two forms.

One of the forms listed the cuts proposed by the state and the areas they would impact, for example, “Vice Principals – Eliminates 1.5 administrative support at elementary and 1.0 at secondary. Principals would be required to assume duties, decreasing administrative support to staff – Students impacted: 2,800 – % of program: 100% – Amount: $257,000 – Points: 3.”

The more money a program cost, the higher the points allocation.

Elsewhere on the form the school district proposed alternatives to the state-proposed cuts.

The second form was for people to mark what cuts they would prefer to see made.

In this manner, the school district will take away the clear and identifiable preferences of parents, teachers and friends of the schools.

This meeting followed meetings at Lake Washington High School and Redmond High School on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

A final meeting is scheduled to be held at Juanita High School on Wednesday, April 22.

For more information on the LWSD’s 2009/10 budget, go to www.lwsd.org/News/2009-2010-Budget/Pages/Budget-Q-and-A.