School levies are critical to keeping teachers, programs and counselors
January 13, 2010
By Laura Geggel
NEW — 1:12 p.m. Jan. 13, 2010
Three years ago, Cascade View Elementary School counselor Sandy Smelser noticed a boy who had great potential and a lot of energy.
“He is a boy who we have felt since first grade could go either direction in life,” Smelser said.
Smelser and her colleagues encouraged the student to pursue one of the leadership programs the counselors had created for students. Now a fourth-grader, he is excelling at Cascade View, volunteering in the leadership peer mediation program and helping special-needs students.
Had the counselors not worked with the student, “I think he would have been a major repeat offender in our discipline system,” Smelser said.
Smelser, like all school counselors, security staff and librarians, is paid for with money from the local maintenance and operations levy.
“All nonclassroom staff are supported by local funds,” Snoqualmie Valley School District spokeswoman Carolyn Malcolm said.
“As we get bigger, those supplemental positions are very important,” she said.
During the Feb. 9 mail-in election, Snoqualmie Valley voters will have a chance to vote on two, four-year levy measures: a $9.9 million technology levy and a $57.5 million maintenance and operations levy.
Both levies are replacement measures; in 2006 voters approved both the technology levy and the maintenance and operations levy with about 62 percent of the vote.
Now, instead of needing a supermajority of 60 percent of the vote, Washington levies only need a simple majority of 50 percent to pass. Ballots will be mailed Jan. 22 for the Feb. 9 vote.
This doesn’t mean Valley Voters for Education, the group campaigning for the district’s levies, is taking it easy.
“We can’t afford to fail,” VVFE President Cliff Brown said. “We want to get as much as our information into as many parent hands as we can.”
What the levies would fund
The $57.5 million maintenance and operations levy would pay for a number of school district services, including extra teachers to reduce class sizes; student programs, such as music, art and drama; school nurses and counselors; physical education teachers; textbooks; custodial services; professional development; utilities; and more.
“The levy is essential to school operations,” Superintendent Joel Aune said. “It’s 18 percent of day-to-day operations in our district.”
The bulk of the $9.9 million technology levy would refresh outdated technology systems, such as the district’s phones, enhance classroom technologies and improve emergency communication and safety systems. About 43 percent of the levy would pay for teacher professional development, helping teachers learn the best ways to utilize classroom technology.
“If we invest in the infrastructure and equipment, it only makes sense that we invest in staff, so they know how to use the technology,” Aune said.
Snoqualmie Education Association President and teacher Art Galloway said training teachers is imperative to teaching students 21st century skills.
The most recent teacher’s union contract relies heavily on the levy passing, as teachers will be compensated for the time they spend learning about new technology.
“This technology levy will balance the investment in improving hardware (and) software with teacher training,” Galloway said. “This training will include both skills for use of new technology and time for teachers to integrate this new technology into more effective instruction across the curriculum.”
Snoqualmie Elementary School Principal Cori Pflug used the example of training teachers how to use ActivBoards in their classroom. The boards are interactive white boards, which studies have shown, that if used effectively, can help students retain information better.
“Once we got the equipment, we asked, ‘Is everyone able to make flip charts, and know how to use ActivBoards and not just use them as document cameras?’” Pflug said.
She said teachers use ActivBoards in their classrooms daily, as they allow them to “see instantly if the kids are getting it. They can go back later and see how each person answered.”
The technology levy would help keep Snoqualmie Valley a competitive school district, Aune said.
“Technology is such a critical aspect in school learning,” he said. “We get no funding from the state for technology. Not a dollar.”
What it would cost
With the economy still recovering from the recession, taxpayers may be combing through their finances.
“We know that the economy is really rugged now and we’re sensitive to that,” Aune said. “We wouldn’t be putting the levies on the ballot if we didn’t feel those funds were needed.”
Tax rates would vary from year to year, with the technology levy costing 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value and the maintenance and operations levy costing $1.57 per $1,000 in 2010.
In 2011, a homeowner with a $400,000 house would pay $800 annually for the maintenance and operations levy and $160 annually for the technology levy.
Under the 2006 levy, a homeowner with a $400,000 house is paying $664 annually for the maintenance and operations levy and $68 annually for the technology levy.
Smelser asked voters to give thought to their ballots before voting.
“We have such a strong counseling program at Snoqualmie Valley School District,” she said. “I am very worried about what is going to happen to our strong, admirable programs if the levy doesn’t pass.”
Laura Geggel” 392-6434 ext. 221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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