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The Bellevue schools began in a one-room log house in 1827. The first class to graduate from Bellevue High School was in 1870 with two students receiving their diplomas. Today the Bellevue City School District, which encompasses one hundred and thirty six square miles, serves a student population of two thousand and eighty two students. The District employs one hundred and ninety three certified educators, eighty nine classified employees (bus drivers, cooks, custodians, maintenance workers, instructional aides and secretaries,) making the District one of the largest employers in the Bellevue area. The district operating budget is approximately $19.6 million per fiscal year. The monies to provide funding for the operating budget come from local taxes (49%), state and federal (51%), and grants totaling one point three million ($1.3 million) dollars. The District also has a Permanent Improvement levy which annually provides five hundred and fifty thousand ($550,000) dollars .This fund can only be used for purchasing buses, renovation and upkeep of buildings, and the purchasing of equipment, including new technology. This Permanent Improvement Fund was a key element in the successful procurement of matching funds for two new buidlings. The District was debt free in December of 2006. Since then we have continued our efforts to maintain our present buldings. We have also renewed our commitment to updating the technology available to our students. Both the middle school and the high school have up to date business and information technology labs which introduce technical areas of study such as cellular, as well as software and networking skills. In November of 2009, we approved the necessary local matching funds to begin the planning and building of one new unified elementary school, and a new middle school. The projected opening date for these new schools is the Fall of 2012.