BRIDGING THE GAP: PSE OF NK VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Public School Employees of North Kitsap voted to double their annual gift to NKSF. A quiet, powerful vote of confidence in support of NK education.

Chatting over coffee in early spring of 2026, Kristin Nieland had some news to share. As the president of Public School Employees of Washington, #920 North Kitsap chapter, she told us that her union had voted to double their annual contribution to NKSF.

It wasn't a dramatic announcement. There was no podium, no press release — just a conversation between two people who care about the same community. As an ongoing supporter, PSE of NK has given to NKSF for several years, and when it came time to decide what to contribute this year, the membership reviewed their resources and decided to give more.

That's only one part of the story that the PSE of NK union president had to share about their year while we sipped lattes.

PSE of NK represents the classified staff of the North Kitsap School District — the paraeducators, office managers, accountants, computer techs, campus security, and secretaries who keep our schools running every day. Roughly 70 percent of the district's classified employees are PSE of NK members. These are not peripheral roles: PSE of NK members are often among the first adults students see in the morning and the last ones they see at the end of the school day. They're in the offices, cafeterias, and hallways between classes. They know our schools the way few people do. From the inside out.

Their investment in the community extends well beyond NKSF. PSE of NK gives annually to Fishline and ShareNet, two North Kitsap organizations working to keep families fed and supported, and to InvestEd, which helps close the opportunity gap for students facing financial hardship. They also provide annual scholarships for children of union members who are heading to college or technical school. No competitive application, no GPA requirement. Any member's kid with a post-secondary plan can get $500 from the union to help them achieve their goals after high school.

This year, PSE of NK and the North Kitsap School District completed their collective bargaining agreement in under two days, through roughly twelve hours of negotiation. That kind of efficiency reflects a working relationship built on mutual respect and enough shared understanding to reach agreement without prolonged discussion. A stable, cooperative relationship between the district and its classified staff is part of what allows our schools to focus on what they're there to do, and it matters for every student in them.

For NKSF, the decision to double the contribution is less about the amount and more about what it signals. Every organization that directs resources toward our mission is making a judgment call: they've weighed the value of our work in supporting education, and decided this is where they want some of their support to go. PSE of NK has made that judgment for several years running, and this year they made it more emphatically.

We're grateful for this partnership, and for the kind of steady generosity that doesn't wait for recognition to keep giving. If you lead an organization — a civic group, a business, a team at the district — that has been thinking about what it can do for the schools we share, PSE of NK's example is worth considering. The vote wasn't complicated. They thought their contribution could be more. That NKSF could do more. So they made it more.

This is Bridging the Gap: Building the community partnerships that sustain our schools for every student, every year.