**LET’S FUND BEACH SCHOOL’S FUTURE**
Help our kids keep their teacher!
May 2025: Right now, school districts across Washington are facing tough financial decisions due to ongoing legislative budget cuts, and communities like ours are beginning to feel the effects first hand. Along with so many districts across the state, The Ferndale School district is grappling with a significant budget deficit. In response, the District has made difficult cuts at all levels — from administrative staff to classroom educators, including one of the two teaching positions at Beach Elementary next year, due in part to low enrollment.
These cuts would leave just one teacher tasked with providing primary instruction for kindergarten through fifth grade — and move a beloved teacher away from Beach to a position on the mainland.
The news has prompted a strong and heartfelt response from the Lummi Island community, which believes a strong school is at the heart of our island’s vibrant culture and future. Lummi Island Foundation for Education (L.I.F.E.) and the Beach Elementary PTO (B.E.P.T.O.) are currently working to fundraise $125,000 to retain our second teacher. These funds will go directly to covering salary, insurance, and retirement benefits for the upcoming year.
L.I.F.E. and B.E.P.T.O. have already allocated $55,000 towards the goal — which leaves $70,000 to go. The school district has given us a deadline of August 1st to raise these funds and keep the crucial second teaching position. While the long term funding outlook is uncertain, we are also exploring creative solutions to help stabilize and grow enrollment at Beach Elementary in years to come.
For more information — or if you’d like to help join our fundraising efforts — email us or make a donation here.
Our Mission
Lummi Island Foundation for Education (LIFE) is committed to sustaining and enhancing education at Beach Elementary School and for children on Lummi Island through current and long-term financial and material support.
Our Goals
Lummi Island Foundation for Education:
Provides limited and defined advocacy efforts at federal, state, and local school district levels about general education issues and those impacting Beach Elementary School.
Encourages students to become active, compassionate and life-long learners by investing in innovative educational programs not funded by the school district, addressing at-risk and gifted children, and benefiting a significant number of Island children.
We are able to do this through community support, grants, events, and have partnered with important organizations like Friends of the Island Library (FOIL), The Lummi Island Grange, Lummi Island Community Association (LICA), the Lummi Island Civic Club, as well as off-Island partnerships with Western Washington University.