Mead's school board votes unanimously to ask Ferguson to opt Washington in to §25F by January 1

A public school board in Washington wants the state in. On Monday, October 26, the Mead School District Board of Directors in Spokane County voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 26-08, which urges Gov. Bob Ferguson to elect Washington's participation in the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (§25F) no later than January 1, 2027, and to send him a letter making the case, according to the board's minutes. Board chair BrieAnne Gray signed the letter on October 27, and KHQ published it the next day. “With school budgets under pressure, we are looking at every available tool that can put more resources in front of our students without taking anything away from our existing funding,” Gray told the station.

The board's case is about public school students. The credit “creates an additional stream of privately donated resources that public-school students can use for tutoring, technology, transportation, extended-day programs, and special needs supports,” the letter says, and it is “one more tool we can use to support students without reducing any of the funding we already receive.” Director Cannon told the board he didn't want to turn away potentially helpful resources when district budgets are tight, and Director Nolan said he didn't see it as a partisan issue, the minutes record. The letter points to New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul said yes on October 9 after reviewing the same federal rules. And it makes the point that keeps coming up in these local debates: “If Washington does not opt in by January 1, 2027, Washington taxpayers can still claim the federal tax credit, but their donations would go to support scholarship organizations in other states.” That is how it works. The credit is federal, so a Washington donor can claim it by giving to an SGO in any participating state, but scholarships follow the student's home state, so that money would fund students elsewhere.

What the scholarships can pay for. A student qualifies if household income is at or below 300% of area median gross income and the student is eligible to enroll in a public school, which the letter says covers “the large majority of families in Mead and across the state.” Qualified expenses come from the Coverdell list in section 530(b)(3)(A), and Treasury's own examples include academic tutoring, special needs services, books, supplies, computers and extended day programs; transportation counts when the school requires or provides it. Treasury's detailed guidance on that list is still to come. The money pays for a student's expenses, not a district's budget: under the proposed rules an SGO pays the provider directly, pays the school for fees the school charges, or reimburses a family against a receipt (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(5)). Our guide to §25F for public schools walks through what a district can do with it.

The superintendent's questions. Superintendent Travis Hanson didn't stand in the way of the vote, but he told the board he is “cautious, concerned and open,” as the minutes put it. He noted that State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has urged Ferguson not to opt in and that the Washington Association of School Administrators recommends against it as well. His main worry was a level playing field: districts serve every student under many requirements, SGOs answer to fewer, and a participating state can't add restrictions beyond the federal ones. He asked the board, if Washington does opt in, to join him in asking legislators and the state's congressional delegation for changes such as requiring SGOs to show outcomes, not just financial compliance, and keeping SGO board members from steering money to companies they own. Some of that is already in the rules. Every SGO must undergo an annual financial and programmatic audit by a qualified independent third party and send the results to each state that lists it (proposed § 1.25F-4(e)). A participating state must impose application, documentation and financial reporting requirements tailored to confirm that an organization qualifies (temporary § 1.25F-5T(e)(1)(ii)). An SGO can pay a vendor directly only after verifying it as an appropriate provider that isn't related to the student, and as a 501(c)(3) it can't let its earnings benefit insiders. What the rules don't measure is student results, which is the change Hanson wants.

The state superintendent's letter. Reykdal wrote to Ferguson on October 9 that “Washington cannot in good faith participate,” the Washington State Standard reported, pointing to the credit's federal cost, the limits on what a state can require of SGOs, and the state's own administrative work. Mead's board answers that the program is funded by voluntary donations and “does not draw on state appropriations, local levies, or any other public-education dollars.” The Washington Student Success Coalition, whose members include Microsoft and the Seattle Metro and Bellevue chambers, has been making the case for opting in as well.

What the vote does. A school board has no formal role in the election, so Resolution 26-08 is a request, not a filing. Ferguson's office said in September that he would decide once final rules are out, and Treasury says those may not come until 2028. Washington's 2027 deadlines don't wait for them. Under Treasury's temporary regulations, which take effect without a comment period and apply from September 1, 2026, a state that wants in for 2027 files Form 15714 with the IRS by January 1, 2027 and sends its list of scholarship granting organizations by February 15, 2027 (the full calendar); the resolution folds both into January 1, but the list has until February 15. Mead is the first Washington school board we know of to go on record. It joins public school systems elsewhere that are planning around the credit: Chesapeake's board in Virginia backed it 7-2 on October 12, Pasco County's board in Florida voted unanimously on October 20 to join Step Up For Students' federal program, Bowling Green Independent Schools in Kentucky plans to partner with the Kentucky Education Fund, and districts in New York and South Dakota have started looking at SGOs of their own.

For organizations. If you want to serve Washington students, the decision is Ferguson's and the clock is short. If he elects in, Washington's list must include every qualifying organization located in the state that asks to be on it, and the state may not add rules tougher than §25F. A school district can't be the SGO itself, since an SGO must be a 501(c)(3), but a district foundation can form one or partner with an SGO that serves public school students. Our free SGO Builder covers the federal steps, and the Washington page will carry Ferguson's decision.