Northshore School District Superintendent Larry Francois and local school-board President Julia Lacey liked what they heard when Jan. 5 rolled around.

On that day, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Washington is not fulfilling its constitutional duty to fully fund basic education.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the ruling. It validates what we believe we’ve known for years, which is we’re underfunded at the state level and that’s why we joined the lawsuit with our teachers’ association in 2009,” Francois said.

Added Lacey, who’s been on the school board for two years and has two sons attending Skyview Junior High in Bothell: “The best outcome that we could have seen is what we got. I’m anxious to see how it impacts the Legislators in session — hopefully (they won’t) look at things like shortening the school year, that’s of great concern to me. Students do best when they’re in front of teachers.”

Now the Legislature will face the issue and “solve the problem,” Francois said, and the court will monitor the legislators to make sure they implement the court’s ruling.

Lacey said the school board will keep students’ parents apprised of the issue through e-fliers and its Web site. School-board member Dawn McCravey will discuss the ruling at a PTSA council Jan. 23, and the school board’s Sandy Hayes will join Francois in Olympia at a Legislative conference at the end of this month.

“We have already sent letters and visited with legislators, trying to help them understand where Northshore’s at and how cuts to the budget would impact our students,” Lacey said.

State Senate Education Chair Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe of Bothell commented in a press release: “Through HB 2261 and HB 2776, the Legislature recognized society is demanding more from our students, so we created an enhanced program of basic education to provide them with the opportunities they need to succeed. However, we can’t reach this goal alone. We now need the public’s support of new revenue to achieve full implementation of these reforms.”

She represents the First Legislative District, which includes Bothell and Kenmore.

Francois said that he’d like to see local homeowners paying less taxes to support their public schools. With the state’s funds, the school district would like to expand extracurricular activities and opportunities for students “who are ready to charge ahead” and take more classes and get extra help for students who may be struggling.