Our Views: Vote to Pass Centralia School District Levy

Posted

On the Aug. 4 primary ballot — which will shortly arrive in Lewis County mailboxes — Centralia School District voters will be asked again to approve a levy to fund sports, transportation, after-school activities and other programs not considered “basic education” and funded by the state. 

We strongly suggest you support the $2 per $1,000 in assessed value request, so Centralia students have the best chance for success going forward, and because we believe Superintendent Lisa Grant will lead the district in a much more transparent direction.

Earlier this year, the Centralia School District’s levy renewal at a proposed rate of $2.50 per $1,000 of property value fell by a startling 69 percent.

It failed for a number of reasons. It was an unexpected rebuke by voters who only a few years earlier agreed to invest in two new elementary schools and a remodeled Centralia High School. 

Voters spoke out in forums after the levy failure, in online comments and letters to the editor explaining their reasons. One element was sticker shock. The community is paying off $74M in bonds for school construction and the McCleary fix gave districts more money for basic education — also from property taxes — much of which went to pay raises for teachers. They were also upset about a perceived lack of transparency from the district amidst all of this spending.

Yes, it’s true that bond money can only be spent on construction, state funding is for basic education and levies are for extras, like sports. But while the money goes into separate pots, it all comes from the same place — our wallets. Who can blame Centralians for wanting to make sure their money is being well spent? 

We were concerned too, but a recent conversation with new Superintendent Lisa Grant helped put our concerns to rest. 

Grant is taking over the top leadership role at the Centralia School District in an incredibly difficult time, but is facing it with admirable optimism. She broke down the school district’s projected $11.9 million deficit for the upcoming school year in a recent meeting with the Editorial Board. 



First, Grant noted the Centralia School Board while budgeting for the 2019-2020 year balanced its budget with $3 million from its ending general fund balance rather than cut employees. That’s kind of like balancing your home budget with your savings account. Eventually you’ll run out of money, and that’s where the district is now. They’ve already cut 90 positions to try to trim expenses. 

Grant says the teacher raises didn’t get the district where it is now, but one way or another, they did commit to spending more money than they bring in. 

Next, due to COVID-19 restrictions and concerns, the district is budgeting for a 10 percent drop in enrollment, which Grant says results in a $2.5 million cut to their state revenue, which is allocated on a per-student basis. On top of that, the district wants to be sure it has at least $1.9 million in reserves. That’s a shortfall of $7.4 million.

Finally, there’s the loss of the levy, which can’t be put toward basic education expenses, and comes to $2.8 million. They also lose the expected state match through the Local Effort Assistance program of $1.7 million. Together, that’s $4.5 million down if the levy fails again, in addition to the $7.4 million hole the district’s already in. 

None of that levy money can be legally used to fix the rest of the district’s problems, but without it, the district says it won’t be able to support school sports next year. And if your student isn’t involved in sports, it could affect their other extra-curricular activities. 

We believe the district is in good hands with Grant and the new school board, and don’t believe turning down the levy to send the district a message is worth the cost to students. 

Please consider passing the Centralia School District’s levy this August.