Coulee-Hartline voters approving Enrichment Levy in early results
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 3 weeks AGO
The Coulee-Hartline School District’s replacement Enrichment Levy is passing with initial results of 239 yes votes and 98 no votes. The Enrichment Levy functions similarly to a Maintenance and Operations levy, Superintendent Kelley Boyd said, funding programs like elementary art.
COURTESY PHOTO/COULEE-HARTLINE SCHOOL DISTRICT
COULEE CITY — The Coulee-Hartline School District’s replacement Enrichment Levy is passing by a good margin in the initial Feb. 12 ballot counts, with 239 yes votes to 98 no votes. The election will be officially certified Feb. 20.
Superintendent and high school principal Kelley Boyd said the district is very thankful for the strong community support, which will allow the school to continue offering programs far beyond what the state funds.
“We’ve passed these levies each year during my time here, and we are very thankful to our community for supporting us,” Boyd said. “This means we’ll continue to support programs like our preschool and pre‑K program, elementary art classes, athletics, after-school tutoring and more.”
Under the district’s levy structure, the enrichment levy functions similarly to a maintenance and operations levy, funding programs and services not covered by the state. Boyd said the name enrichment levy came from legislative terminology changes several years ago, but it funds what the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the state does not fund. Boyd said state apportionment does not fully fund even a single administrator for a district their size.
“Our apportionment funding doesn’t fund even a full‑time administrator; it funds about 90% of one person,” she said. “But it takes a lot more than one person to do things.”
Despite that, the district operates efficiently, she said.
“I’m the superintendent and the high school principal, and we also have only a half‑time elementary principal,” Boyd said.
According to district documents, the levy collects $350,600 per year, with estimated rates of 81 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in 2027 and 74 cents per $1,000 in 2028. Boyd said the district intentionally keeps the levy amount consistent year to year to avoid increasing the burden on local taxpayers.
“We’ve found that if we collect that same amount each year, it puts us in a really good spot,” she said. “There’s no reason to increase our levy dollars at this time.”
Boyd said she is grateful to every resident who participated in the special election.
“I appreciate every single person who votes, regardless of what decision they make,” she said. “I’m super appreciative of the support we’re getting from our community.”
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