Wahluke School District officials consider options after apparent capital levy rejection
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 1 month AGO
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Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | February 17, 2021 1:00 AM
MATTAWA — Wahluke School Board members and district officials will decide how to react following the rejection so far of a capital levy proposal that would have paid for repairs and upgrades to district buildings.
In unofficial results released Thursday by the Grant County Auditor’s Office, the levy had received 308 “no” votes, 59.23%, and 212 “yes” votes, 40.77%. The three-year levy would’ve generated $1.5 million per year.
Interim superintendent Andy Harlow said the results showed relations between the district and voters are in need of repair. While he said he wasn’t sure what caused the disruption, “we (district officials) have some work to do.”
The levy would have paid for new roofs at Mattawa and Saddle Mountain elementary schools, and those projects can’t wait, Harlow said. School board and district officials will set some priorities and make some hard decisions, he said in an earlier interview.
The money also would’ve paid for security upgrades at all district buildings and upgraded irrigation systems throughout the district. Other projects in the proposal included upgrades to the heating-cooling system and new hallway carpet at Saddle Mountain Elementary, new gym scoreboards at the two elementary schools and Wahluke Junior High, modernized fire alarms at Mattawa Elementary and WJH, and resurfacing the Wahluke High School parking lot.
Harlow said some projects were put off for a few years and district officials neglected to plan and put money aside for some repairs. The levy was designed to address the current needs and allow district officials to work on a long-term plan.
District officials started some long-term planning, he said.
The levy proposal faced some challenges, Harlow said, including the coronavirus outbreak that kept kids out of school for long periods of time. In addition, the uncertainty of an interim superintendent might have played a role, he said.
If district officials decide to present the levy to voters again, it will be important to get more people involved in the process, he said, and better explain the projects and the reasons for them.
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