Washington schools looking to send students to overnight outdoor education programs are dealing with a financial crunch after grant funding was left out of the state budget.

The Outdoor Learning Grants program, established by the state Legislature in 2021, offered subsidies for schools to send fifth- and sixth-grade students to the outdoor school programs. But lawmakers zeroed out the grants as they worked to solve a budget gap this year. Enrollment is expected to drop as a result.

These programs are held at dedicated outdoor education centers and allow students to engage in hands-on activities out in nature, with an emphasis on scientific inquiry, environmental awareness and teamwork.

Funding also went to schools, tribes and program providers to develop outdoor education curricula.

The goal was to support outdoor educational experiences for students across the state and include high levels of accessibility for students with disabilities.

Tribal schools, schools in rural areas and schools with high populations of free and reduced-price lunch students, migrant students, students of color, English language learners, and students receiving special education services were eligible for the subsidies.

Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Instruction cites research showing that students who participate in outdoor educational activities are more likely to graduate, are better behaved in school, and have improved relationships with their peers.

The state subsidies leveled the playing field for schools that couldn’t afford to send students to overnight outdoor school programs, said Greg Barker, managing director of the Washington School Principals’ Education Foundation. The foundation administers the Outdoor Learning Grant program and manages the Cispus outdoor learning center in Lewis County.

Approximately 730 schools signed up for the state subsidies for the 2024-25 school year, and an estimated 790 were expected to apply this year, Barker said.

There is still about $1.4 million left over from the last budget to help students at 50 to 60 of the highest-need schools attend outdoor school in the 2025-26 school year, but there’s not nearly enough savings to support all of the schools applying.

In the last two-year budget, lawmakers provided $20 million for the grants, double the amount allocated in the budget before that.

Bellingham School District is among those losing funding from the grants this year.

Last year, subsidies from the program covered $190,125 of the $200,000 it cost to send all of its fifth-grade students to overnight outdoor school programs at the North Cascades Institute in Skagit County and Camp Kirby on Samish Island.

The Bellingham district launched its outdoor learning program in 2013, with the district’s 13 schools initially doing individual fundraising to cover the cost.

The program is a critical part of meeting the district’s goal of holistic child development, said Tom Gresham, a director of teaching and learning with the district and organizer of its fifth-grade outdoor learning program.

“It’s a really good culmination of what kids have been learning in all sorts of ways: science, writing, reading, environmental learning, and just how to get along with other human beings,” Gresham said of outdoor learning.

The district began funding outdoor learning in its regular budget in 2020, and did so up until the state launched the Outdoor Learning Grants program.

“For us, that was great, because then we could direct that funding towards some other things,” said Gresham.

With the state funding gone, the district is trying to shift back to fundraising to keep the outdoor learning program alive.

“We’re still in this place of trying to figure it all out,” Gresham said.

A few other school districts, like Northshore, Kent and Olympia, are trying out fundraising as well, Barker said.

Many districts, however, are cutting back on outdoor learning.

For some, that means fewer days at outdoor school or a shift to alternative forms of outdoor learning, like a field trip to a local park or nature reserve.

Schools that typically sign up for fall outdoor programs are the most affected by the loss of the grants because they have less time to find alternative funding.

The North Cascades Institute anticipates that only 25% of its usual fall groups will attend this year, but expects enrollment to bounce back as early as this spring.

“Our projections are looking pretty good,” said the institute’s program director, Eric Buher.

The North Cascades Institute does its own fundraising to subsidize up to 60% of costs for schools to send students to its overnight outdoor school. But now that its own Outdoor Learning Grant funding has been cut, Buher said the organization may need to rethink its approach.

“We’re looking for innovative ways to do things, to cut our costs, to increase donations to help bring schools in, but we also know that that’s going to be a journey,” Buher said.

Cispus Learning Center is seeing immediate effects from the loss of grant funding and, as a result, is drastically reducing its program offerings this year.

Staff are shifting focus to maintain the center’s website, keep its curriculum up to date and work with agencies like the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife to help schools maintain and adapt their outdoor learning programs.

Buher and Barker both hope that the state Legislature will renew its commitment to funding outdoor education once the budget stabilizes.

“We really want to keep kids outdoors,” Barker said. “We’re just continuing to look for those resources to help them in the short term.”

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/21/washington-outdoor-school-education-learning-grants-nature/