As the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) awaits word from Olympia on how state funding for the district will change next year, school administrators have decided to postpone some of the public meetings which were planned for coming weeks to discuss the budget.

According to a press release from LWSD on Monday, budget input meetings were scheduled this week and next based on the determination of school funding in the state budget by the end of the legislature’s regularly scheduled session last Friday, March 12.

However, the outcomes of this session are not yet clear. As a result, the budget input meetings scheduled for March 16 and 17 at Juanita High School, Rose Hill Junior High and Lake Washington High School are being postponed.

The legislature is meeting this week in an extended session and it is hoped the state budget will be finalized by Friday.

The meetings scheduled for March 24 and 25 will remain on the calendar (7 – 9 p.m., at Redmond High School on March 24, and Eastlake High School on March 25). After the legislative session is complete, it will be determined if the meetings for Lake Washington High School and Juanita High School as well as an afternoon meeting at Rose Hill Junior High will be rescheduled or if all meetings will be cancelled.

“We thought that by this time the level of cuts would be pretty clear,” said Deputy Superintendent of Operations Janene Fogard. “Right now, the amounts are still very much up in the air. We want to make sure that our budget meetings are a good use of the community’s time and will wait until we have the final numbers rather than asking for input on a range of scenarios.”

District parents and staff are being called today using the School Messenger system to let them know the meetings are being postponed. Community members are encouraged to check the district’s Web site at www.lwsd.org to confirm the meeting schedule.