Tony Overman/The Olympian
Tenino school Superintendent Steven Smedley arrives at Thurston County election headquarters in Tumwater shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday to find his district's maintenance and operating levy passing handily. Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman (right) looks on.

Most school levies pass

Measure in Yelm ahead by one vote

ALMA D. SHARPE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Wednesday, February 6, 2002

TUMWATER -- Voters said yes to maintenance and operations levies in most South Sound school districts Tuesday, leaving only a couple of districts still crossing their fingers.

The levy in Yelm Community Schools was ahead by a margin of one vote, with all precincts and most absentee ballots counted.

Any absentee ballots that come in through the rest of the week could push the final count in either direction.

"We still have a shot," Superintendent Alan Burke said.

If the measure fails, it would be the fifth February election in a row in which Yelm voters have turned down levies.

In every occasion during the past 10 years, the levies were ultimately approved by voters.

State law allows a school district to run a levy twice in one year. State law requires levies to win at least a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

The Rochester School District was a bit further from victory Tuesday, but not by much. The last results issued showed it was just over 2 percentage points away from victory, leaving any remaining absentees to decide the election.

"There's more yes votes out there. We hope they come in, " Superintendent Jim Anderson said. "If we don't make it this time, we'll come back in April."

If it passes, it would be the first time in three elections that Rochester voters approved a levy during the first election.

Rochester officials have seen their levies ultimately succeed in later elections.

'Very positive'

Other school supporters breathed a sigh of relief.

Districts from Shelton to Rainier and Tenino -- which have struggled in the past to pass levies -- appeared to win voter support this time.

"I've called the board members. This is very positive," said Jerry Black, superintendent of Rainier schools. "We're very thankful to the community for supporting us and for supporting their schools."

For Olympia Superintendent Bill Lahmann, the outcome was a change from his experience in the South Kitsap School District, where he worked before coming to Olympia last year.

"It's such a wonderful change for me," he said. "The Olympia community is wonderful. It's great to have their continued support."

Olympia voters have not rejected a levy during February elections in more than 10 years.

School levies, which cover an average of 20 percent of the operations cost for districts across the state, can go toward textbooks, teacher salaries and music, art and physical education programs.

Districts' challenges

For many districts, the challenge is showing voters that levies are not new taxes, but replacements of existing taxes. Construction bonds, on the other hand, are new taxes.

For Nick Brossoit, superintendent of Tumwater schools, this year brought the best approval rate since 1992, with more than 67 percent of the voters saying yes.

"Tumwater's a very supportive community," Brossoit said. "Our challenge in the past has been in getting enough people to vote. When school supporters vote, we usually don't have a problem."

Tenino Superintendent Steven Smedley said that in four of the previous seven levy elections, voters have approved the measure the first time it went on the ballot.

This year, he said school supporters worked to improve their chances of passing the levy by holding community meetings on the measure, outlining clearly for voters how the money would be spent and showing parents and community schools academic improvements among students.

"We did some very specific things to show how we're been trying to improve," Smedley said. "The response from the community was very positive."

Alma D. Sharpe covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-4226.

Yelm school levy

60 percent needed to pass

YES 1,823 60.03%

NO 1,214 39.97%

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On the Web:

- Thurston County Auditor: Election Results

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