Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Voters in the Wahkiakum and Naselle/Grays River Valley School Districts will receive their vote-by-mail ballots this week for special levy elections.
Both districts are asking voters to approve continuation of the special levy taxes they have approved in the past to pay for costs not covered by state funding.
The Naselle/Grays River Valley School District Board of Directors is asking voters to approve a two-year, $695,000 special levy. The estimated assessment would be $3.24 for each $1,000 of assessed property value.
Wahkiakum directors are asking for approval of a four-year special levy.
The assessment would raise $927,000 the first year and increase about $20,000 per year to $987,000, in the fourth year. It would have an assessment of $2.49 per $1,000.
The levies would be directed toward a variety of programs.
They would cover costs programs not covered by state funding--items such as salaries and benefits for extracurricular programs; transportation for extracurricular programs and classroom field trips; unfunded costs of regular transportation; supplies, materials, new curriculum, and other non-employee related costs; staffing not covered by basic state funding; technology upgrades and supports, food services, and a variety of maintenance needs.
In addition, Wahkiakum directors have been given a long list of maintenance needs at the high school, which opened in 1962 and is starting to show its age.
Rather than ask voters to approve a building bond to replace or remodel the high school, they're asking for a slight increase in the levy to address those maintenance needs over a period of time.
No one likes to pay taxes, but given the fact that state funding doesn't cover the educational needs of our school districts, special levies are a necessary evil.
Directors and administrators of both districts have worked hard to run quality programs while using the public's money wisely. We should support the levy requests and maintain the quality schools which our communities and our country need.
Reader Comments(0)