Thurston election results are official — and all but 1 school-funding measure passed

Every school district in Thurston County had at least one levy or bond, or both, on the Feb. 11 Special Election ballots — and now that results are certified, each district has at least one reason to celebrate.

Replacement tax levies for educational programs and operations, which needed simple majorities of 50 percent to pass, were successful in the Olympia, North Thurston, Tumwater, Griffin, Rochester, Rainier, Tenino and Yelm school districts.

The levy that passed with the widest margin was Olympia’s, which got almost 71 percent yes votes; the narrowest margin was in Yelm, where the replacement levy passed with just over 52 percent of the votes.

Additional levies considered in Griffin and Tumwater school district also passed the simple-majority mark. And, while the outcome was in question in early results, a North Thurston Public Schools bond that needed a 60-percent majority to pass earned 61.29 percent in the final tally.

Only a Rochester School District capital bond did not fare well: Results from the district that spans parts of Grays Harbor, Lewis, and Thurston counties show the bond failed with over 56 percent of the vote. The bond would’ve gone toward a building addition to Rochester High School, among other projects.

Centralia School District, which is mostly in Lewis County but reaches into southern Thurston, had a replacement levy on ballots that also failed, with just 31 percent yes votes. In that ballot measure, 107 votes were counted from Thurston County.

Voter turnout in Thurston County for the election was 35.92 percent.