This renewal levy replaces the expiring levy (which voters approved in 2017). The levy used to be known as the Educational Programs & Operations Levy. 

While Washington state did approve enhanced funding for K-12 public schools in recent years (known as the McCleary fix), the state still does not provide enough funding to cover the cost of fully educating BISD students. 

EXAMPLE: For a district our size, the state believes it is sufficient to employ the equivalent of 0. 561 of a nurse to support our 3,500+ students. BISD believes nurses play an important role in the success of our students and that employing one half-time nurse isn’t sufficient. Instead, we employ 4.561 FTE nurses. Their salaries and benefits are paid from the Enrichment Levy.  Another funding discrepancy example is our school counselors. The state says that for a district our size, 7.975 FTE counselors are adequate. In reality, BISD employs 10.10 FTE counselors.