Dear students, families and community members,

First, a hearty thank you (again) to our voters! School levies are critical to our ability to do all that we do.

Second, I would like to share some news with you. 听Today it is being announced I am a finalist for the superintendent position of the Northwest Educational Service District (NWESD) 189.听The听NWESD serves 35 school districts,听Lummi Nation K-12 and several private schools in Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties.

I will be participating in interviews tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 15, and the ESD board expects to make its selection soon.

When I was invited to apply, I thought very carefully about it — most importantly because I love 番茄影视 Public Schools and all that we’re doing here. I have not been seeking a different job, but the ESD superintendent role offers an incredible, truly unique opportunity, so I decided to explore this possibility further.听If I am selected, this role would allow me to continue to serve our community in addition to an entire region. It would also allow me to continue living in 番茄影视, the community my family and I call home.

I have been superintendent of 番茄影视 Public Schools for 14 years, and I am tremendously proud of the work we have done and are doing as a district and community. Our work, as The 番茄影视 Promise states, is 鈥渁 collective commitment to 番茄影视鈥檚 children.鈥� I do not think what we’ve done over the last 14 years as 鈥渕y” work, but our work. We accomplish great things together every day.

I will share an update with all of you when I know more, probably in the next day or two.

If I am selected for this position, the school board will begin a search for my replacement, and I would serve the remainder of my term until July 1.

No matter what my next steps are, I am so appreciative of our schools and community, and it is an honor to serve as your superintendent.

Greg Baker

I am delighted to let you know that as of the first election results released tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 13, our levies are passing by nearly 64 percent.

You can keep track of the final vote totals at the Whatcom County Auditor鈥檚听. The next round of results will be posted tomorrow at 5 p.m. and the election will be certified February 23.

We are so thankful to our voters! Our local levies are critical for our students and our community 鈥� they represent a significant portion of our budget (nearly 25%). We have so many amazing staff and beneficial programs, services and equipment funded by these two replacement levies.

Many people contribute to the success of this election. I want to thank our principals and leaders who help share information about our levies, our school board for their support in putting forward these two levy resolutions on the ballot, and volunteers with the non-profit group Citizens for 番茄影视 for their service and the countless hours they have volunteered conducting important voter education and outreach.

We would not be where we are tonight without the hard work and dedication of literally thousands of our neighbors and friends.

With gratitude,
Greg

If you are not familiar with this day of recognition, you can听, which explains that it marks the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855. The treaty enacted a government-to-government relationship between the United States government and many Coast Salish and Indigenous nations, including the Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, in the Pacific Northwest.
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Classes resume on a normal schedule tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Dear students, staff, families and community,

I have spent much of today assessing conditions and trying to predict whether (and the weather!) the rain will come in time to clear our roads and sidewalks for school tomorrow.

As of right now, it鈥檚 still a major mess throughout our district, city and county.

I have made the decision to close schools tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 19.听

The forecast is calling for rain and warmer temperatures, but it鈥檚 hard to imagine it coming fast enough. When the rain does arrive, it鈥檚 likely we will see a rain/snow mix and icy conditions. Even if most of our district is ok, many of our staff live elsewhere, where conditions are often worse.

I want to acknowledge again the importance of having our schools open; I hope knowing our status the day before helps reduce any inconvenience. Please watch for updates about make-up days to our calendar.

Speaking of calendar, a reminder that Monday, Jan. 22 is a planned no school day to commemorate Treaty Day. If you are not familiar with this day of recognition, you can听, which explains that it marks the anniversary of the signing of the Treat of Point Elliot in 1855. The treaty enacted a government-to-government relationship between the United States government and many Coast Salish and Indigenous nations, including the Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, in the Pacific Northwest.

Please continue to be safe and warm.

Thank you.

Greg Baker

Reply to听greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org

A Message from Superintendent Greg Baker

Dear students, staff, families and community,

We want to share a quick update regarding network services for today, Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Our phones and internet services across our district and schools are operational.

Educational Technology worked through the night and into the early morning to restore both wired and wireless services. We are grateful for their efforts.

Thank you again for your flexibility to changing conditions.

Greg Baker

Reply to听greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org听

Three of our assistant principals have been involved in a legal process regarding mandatory reporting, and I want to share an update.

We are pleased that, after review of all of the evidence in this case, the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney鈥檚 Office鈥檚 has reached a resolution and will be dismissing all charges against the three 番茄影视 Public Schools staff charged in this matter, following completion of additional Title IX training.

We continue to believe that our staff acted in good faith to protect and support a student, and that the specific information they received did not require a mandatory report.

Our assistant principals have been working in their respective schools all year, supporting students, families and staff, and they continuously demonstrate that they are caring, hard-working professionals.

The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we will continue to provide training to all 番茄影视 Public Schools staff, so they can provide appropriate responses when students report sexual misconduct or assault, and other forms of abuse and neglect.听We know the importance of believing and listening to students and survivors and taking action right away to support them.

We continue to strengthen our relationships and processes with law enforcement, the state Department of Children, Youth and Family, survivor advocates and community partners.

Dear 番茄影视 Family Partnership Program staff and families,

We are excited to share we have found a heating solution for BFPP鈥檚 facility that we believe will work for the remainder of the school year.

We are installing an external heating unit, similar to what we used last week, which is often used at construction sites. If you are interested in the details, the units run through our vents and big plastic sleeves and ducts, which are suspended to the ceiling. You should expect to see crews and facilities staff completing installation this week.

Thank you again to all our families, students, staff and community partners who have shared input and ideas over the last few weeks.

While this heating solution is good news in the short-term, we still need to determine long-term plans for the BFPP facility. As we have mentioned, there are challenges beyond just heating.

We are going through a feasibility study to assess what improvements need to be made for the long-term.

When we have more information, we will be sure to send an update. In the meantime, feel free to share questions with Kate or me.

Thank you again for being so engaged at the BFPP and your advocacy,

Greg Baker

Please send feedback to

Greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org

Kate.baehr@bellinghamschools.org

Family engagement is an essential ongoing aspect of every student鈥檚 experience in the 番茄影视 Public Schools.听 It is an expectation that teachers engage regularly in communication with families. For many years, elementary and middle school teachers have relied on a face-to-face family/caregiver meeting during a period of a few specific days in late October and early November as a key strategy for engaging with families. This approach has worked well for a lot of families but not for all.

We have broadened our approach to family engagement to include additional methods of communication; in-person family meetings are still one way that teachers can and will engage. Staff now have access to a range of methods that may work better for some families, including meetings on Zoom, communications on ParentSquare or connecting via phone calls.听 Families can opt to request an in-person meeting with their child鈥檚 teacher and expect that to occur in a timely manner. Similarly, teachers may request to meet with families in person or through other means noted above at any point during the school year.

Both teachers and families are encouraged to communicate with updates about students鈥� progress and ask questions. We encourage teachers and families to share positive news or events and not limit communication to when there is a concern or challenge. Our district can provide support for interpretation and translation for meetings and other communication when needed.