For the past 25 years, I’ve enjoyed finding ways to contribute to my community, most recently as a Director on the Centralia School Board. Serving in this capacity for the past four years was an incredible honor and privilege.
I’m proud of the efforts by our board, along with our superintendent, Dr. Lisa Grant, as the Centralia School District has worked intentionally to shift the culture in our schools and build foundational relationships, transparency and trust in our community. Our district continues to show improvement in student academic achievements; the unprecedented and long-term challenges we’ve all faced as a result of the pandemic make our progress in the “wins column” even more essential.
I also witnessed the indomitable spirit of our district’s supporters as we navigated a double levy failure. It was during this time that the strength, resilience and unwavering commitment of our families, educators, administrators and students shone in their pursuit of excellence, despite the additional adversities we faced by massive budget and staffing reductions. No one imagined what the loss of those levies would fully mean to our students and staff, because we hadn’t had a levy failure since 1972.
1972? That’s right. Levies are not a new thing. If you went to school in the 1970s (or later), programs and services you were provided were funded by levies — including sports, music, arts, special education, food services, transportation and more. Fifty years later, funding education continues to be complicated. While the state of Washington provides funding for basic education, there are some important student programs and services that are not funded by the state, which comprise about 11% of the Centralia School District’s budget. This is where your levy investment can help close the gaps in funding.
Additionally, we know that healthy, thriving school districts attract housing and commerce (like UNFI, Winco at Centralia Station, and the proposed hydrogen hub). More commerce means more jobs and more revenue being invested back into our community. All of that helps attract and retain quality educators for our district.
By Feb. 13, Centralia voters are being asked to vote on a two-year replacement levy at $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed value, for each of the two years. Ballots are already in your mailboxes. If you still have questions about the levy, you can find more information at www.centraliaschooldistrict.org and click on the levy link, or call the school district at 360-330-7600.
Thank you for joining me in supporting our schools with your yes vote, and for investing in our students.
Vickie Jackson
Centralia
