I am a senior citizen, a former school board member of Mossyrock School District, a former employee of a large school district in another state and, best of all, a member of the Mossyrock and Salkum community.
I recently moved back to this community. Although we enjoyed our time away, we both have always felt that Mossyrock was “home.” After my husband passed, I came back home to this area and am anxious to see our young people continue to gain the best education possible from our school system. I am writing this letter in support of the Mossyrock School District’s upcoming maintenance and operation levy.
For many years, the state Legislature has struggled to meet the needs of school districts across that state, and for just as many years, that struggle has failed, so districts are forced to ask its citizens to pass a levy in order to pay for the gap between what they get from grants, state and federal funds and what they need to operate their district successfully. The Mossyrock School District has been lucky to pass these levies in the past because our community knows how important it is to give our young people the best education possible. Many of our citizens have either attended, or their parents and grandparents have attended, our schools, so it is truly the hub of our community. We don’t have a large industry in our community like a mill to help fill the financial gap, so we, the people of the community, need to do it.
As a former school board member and a former school district employee, it was my responsibility to ensure the district funds were distributed wisely. Each month, I carefully reviewed every disbursement prior to approving the expenditure. If I had a question, I asked. If I disagreed, I spoke up. I can tell you Mossyrock School District staff take their responsibility in wisely disbursing their funds accurately.
In years past, I was so proud of the progress our students made as well as that of our school itself. It is so important that we allow our district and, more importantly, our students be able to continue that progress. It is my understanding that “we” (the district) are still able to provide Head Start, Running Start and an alternative education program to assist students in being the “best they can be.”
I was disappointed to hear the district no longer has programs such as the music and band program for all students, regardless of their grade level. Obviously, we can only do this if appropriate funds are available and managed appropriately. As stated above, the state educational funding structure does not allow that to happen, so it is up to the individual districts, such as us, to provide the funds to fill the “gap” between the state and us.
This is why I am writing this letter to you, to implore our Mossyrock community citizens to vote yes on our levy on April 22. I know I will be voting, and I am asking all registered voters in our district to do the same.
Donna M. Wilson
Salkum
