A Centralia School District employee talks about the Replacemnt Levy at the Centralia Levy Forum on Thursday night.
Superintendent of Centralia School District Mark Davalos talks about the replacement levy at a January forum.
The Centralia School District held a levy community forum on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. in the Fords Prairie Elementary School multipurpose room with the goal of discussing the replacement levy and answering questions from parents and voters.
Attendance of the meeting was low but Mark Davalos, Centralia School District Superintendent and other school district staff were in attendance to answer questions.
The Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy rate on the February special election ballot ask Centralia residents to approve a rate of $2.50 per $1,000 in assessed property value. That means someone owning a home worth $250,000 will pay $625 per year.
Although the most recent levy rate was $1.50 per $1,000, Ed Petersen, Communications & Public Relations Coordinator for the district, said that when calculating past levy rates since 2013 the average rate is $2.6, making this year’s rate of $2.50 per $1,000 below Centralia School District’s average rate.
Some of the programs that were mentioned at the forum that are supported by the levy include athletics, behavioral supports, nursing staff, transportation, special education, and smaller class sizes.
“It’s really all about the kids. We want to give them the best opportunities that we can. We want smaller class sizes, we want to make sure we are putting good, up-to-date materials in front of them. It’s about setting them up for success,” said Davalos.
Voting on the replacement levy will take place Feb. 11 and Davalos encouraged anyone who has questions to reach out to the school district or email them to levyquestion@centraliaschools.org.
