Vote to approve school district levies for technology, safety and efficiency updates
By 8 p.m. Feb. 8, voters in the Olympia, Tumwater, Tenino and Griffin school districts should have mailed or dropped off ballots asking for approval to renew capital levies. We should all vote yes to renew these vital tax measures, which simply continue the taxes we already pay.
Our schools have been mightily stressed by the pandemic and the shifting sands of online learning, in-person learning, and masking and vaccine controversies. At the same time, school staff and school boards have been beset by the same divisions as the rest of our country over racism and resistance to teaching the full and accurate history of our communities and our nation.
In Olympia, tension about racism boiled over recently when a high school student harassed and racially insulted a Black basketball player from an opposing team. That incident requires teachers, school leaders and students to again address racism, sexism and every other form of intolerance and division — and to simultaneously respond to people who want teachers to stop teaching and talking about it.
Voting for school capital levies is the least we can do to show our appreciation to our schools and the people who staff them during this very hard time.
The pandemic has demonstrated the growing importance of capital expenditures for technology, without which remote learning would have been impossible. This growing element of school budgets allowed districts to equip all students with Chromebooks and provide internet hotspots to low-income families when schools shifted to remote learning, and to provide teachers with the training and tools they needed to teach.
Of course we hope the pandemic will wind down soon, but even then, the relentless evolution of technology will require continuous investments to update technology, and continuous training in its use. This is about more than classroom or even distance learning — it’s about preparing all students to function in a world where nearly all jobs and careers require technological literacy. It’s also about providing the newest and best technologies and assistive devices for students with disabilities.
For parents worried about too much screen time, Olympia School Superintendent Patrick Murphy notes, the quality of that time matters as much as the quantity. “We teach healthy technology use,” he says.
The replacement levies also will fund improved school safety measures — a pervasive and sad necessity in a nation rife with school shootings. A variety of other capital needs are also funded from these levies, including seismic upgrades, energy upgrades that will allow schools to stay in session during power outages, safer walking and biking routes, and energy efficiency measures that will reduce their carbon footprints.
Tumwater Superintendent Sean Dotson highlights projects such as a boiler replacement and roof maintenance “to keep students warm and dry,” and replacement of older lighting with more energy efficient LEDs.
The levy costs and purposes are described in detail in an insert included with each ballot. But here are the basics on cost — remembering that taxpayers are already paying these rates, since the levies would replace expiring levies:
Olympia: The levy rate would be between 92-98 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value between 2023 and 2026.
Griffin: The levy rate would be 43-45 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2023 and 2024.
Tumwater: The levy rate would be 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value between 2023 and 2026.
Tenino: The levy rate would be $1.11 per $1,000 of assessed property value from 2023 to 2026.
Don’t miss this chance to support the success of all the kids in our communities, and to show our gratitude to school staffs who continue to face tough challenges every day.
This story was originally published January 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.