funders

Funding for the Washington State Leadership Academy comes from three sources: public and private funding, and district participation fees.

Public funding from the Washington State Legislature was initially granted for two years, covering the planning and pilot phase of the Leadership Academy. This funding was contingent upon the managing partners securing private funding as well. Although state funding was frozen due to economic constraints and forecasts in December 2010, legislative funding for next year was renewed in the 2011 session.

Private funding was obtained through a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in July 2007. This funding is, in turn, contingent upon sustained public funding. Other sources of private funding are continually being researched and considered.

District fees are assessed through the participating Education Service Districts (ESDs) and may be offset by scholarship assistance or Leadership Academy support cases of extreme hardship. During the pilot phase, the Leadership Academy will cover most of the start-up costs for developing, evaluating and delivering the program. For the pilot year, each district was asked to contribute $5,000, which amounts to about 7% of the operating costs for the year. Post pilot, district contributions have been $3000.00 per district with some reductions for hardship cases. Additionally, the Tacoma School District has opted to pay in full for additional time beyond its initial two years.