Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeWednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
Richland plans to run 2-year levy
By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer
The Richland School District is planning to run a two-year maintenance and operations levy in February to help with daily operating expenses that aren't fully covered by the state.
The school board settled on the levy date and length during its regular meeting Tuesday. Board members will agree on a levy amount at an upcoming meeting.
The levy won't be a new tax but instead will replace the current levy, which will be expiring. School districts in Washington rely on levies to supplement the money they get from the state for basic education.
The property tax income generated by levies helps pay for things like utilities, security staff, librarians and counselors, art, music, P.E. and sports.
Levy money will be especially critical for districts in the coming few years because they'll be getting less money from the state. The state Legislature slashed funding for K-12 education and other programs because of a projected revenue shortfall for 2009-11 in the billions. And more cuts could be coming.
The Pasco and Kennewick districts also are discussing running levies next year.
Also Tuesday:
The school board continued reviewing a policy on the selection and adoption of instructional materials.
The board and district staff have been reviewing the policy since May, after some parents expressed concerns about novels being offered in high school language arts classes.
There was talk Tuesday of having teachers flag on their syllabi the novels with graphic language or mature themes.
But some teachers, parents and students said they worried that could lead to censorship and would show a lack of faith in teachers' judgment.
District staff plan to meet with teachers and seek more input in the next few weeks. The board will revisit the policy at a future meeting.
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