That’s the day voters in the Olympia and Tumwater school districts, North Thurston Public Schools and Yelm Community Schools will decide the fate of four maintenance and operation levies, along with a construction bond measure in Olympia.
All of the school funding measures requested by the four districts deserve voter support. The school districts need these levies to maintain essential education programs. In fact, between 48 cents and 59 cents of every dollar raised by the replacement levies goes directly to basic education needs, including teacher salaries, classroom supplies and support staff.
Over the years, state support for public education has eroded to the point that the state Supreme Court recently ruled the state isn’t meeting its constitutional mandate to fund public education. School districts have been left to fend for themselves more and more, relying on local community support to keep their schools functioning in the face of growing student populations, rapid changes in technology and the types of extra curricular student activities that go hand in hand with classroom education.
Even once the state Legislature meets its legal mandate to fund public education, locally supported school levies will remain important components of school funding.
No doubt, school levies in tough economic times are hard for some families to stomach. But it’s also important to remember that these are not new taxes, but rather, replacement levies that already appear on the property tax rolls.
Public education has taken a lot of budget hits in the years-long economic recession. Without school levies, the school districts would be in a world of hurt, forced to cut programs that would diminish the quality of the education we expect students to receive.
Here’s a look at what voters will be asked to support next month:
• North Thurston Public Schools has a $128 million levy that represents 22 percent of the school district budget over the next four years. The four-year levy would cost taxpayers about $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in 2013, which is a 21 cents per $1,000 increase over the 2012 levy amount.
With 14,000 students in 21 schools, North Thurston is the largest and most diverse school district in the county.
Along with basic education needs, the school levy supports special education, transportation, athletics and the performing arts.
• The Olympia School District levy totals nearly $91 million and covers 24 percent of the school budget over the next four years. The construction bond of $97.8 million will help pay for new school construction, remodeled and expanded schools and land for new schools in a district that continues to grow.
The combined school levy and bond assessment of $5.44 per $1,000 from 2013 through 2016 is the same rate as homeowners are paying this year.
• The Tumwater School District levy of $55.45 million for four years represents 20 percent of the school district budget. Next year, it will cost homeowners $3.18 per $1,000 of assessed value, climbing to $3.29 in 2015.
The levy will help the school district reduce class size, as well as fund programs for students who are either struggling or excelling in the classroom.
The Tumwater levy and the others complete funding for some things that the state only partially funds. For instance, the state pays for enough staff to support a five-period school day while most schools offer a six-period day.
• Yelm Community Schools has a four-year, $39.8 million levy that covers 18 percent of its school district budget. The estimated tax rate, which assumes a slow increase in property values in the four years ahead, would be $3.71 per $1,000 in 2013, rising to $3.92 per $1,000 in 2016.
If the levy doesn’t pass, the school district will have to cut some $11 million from its school programs, which were trimmed by $1.1 million in 2009 because of state budget cuts.
These are tough times for school districts and property tax-paying community members alike. But working together they can support the schools and the future of the county’s largest communities.
Ballots will be in the mail soon. Take the time to vote “yes” for school funding.
