Election: Big turnout for Pasco school levy. Here are the results
Pasco School District’s levy was passing by a substantial margin in initial election results Tuesday night.
Renewal of the educational programs and operations levy will decide the future of $50 million in funding annually for the district, which affects hundreds of jobs and beloved programs like sports.
A failure would have marked the first double levy failure in 54 years.
Election night results show the measure received about 58% support, or nearly 7,500 votes in favor. Nearly 42%, or 5,300 votes, came in against the measure. It needs more than 50% support to pass.
Voter turnout is at about 28%. About 12,800 ballots have been tallied so far.
School board members let out a sigh of relief as initial results came in after the conclusion of a Tuesday night business meeting.
“We’d like to thank everyone that was involved in the process and everyone who voted,” school board President Scott Lehrman told the Tri-City Herald.
“We appreciate all the opinions, both for and against the levy. We’re a learning organization that will use that feedback in the future to be effective stewards of the taxpayer’s money to best serve the students and families of Pasco,” he said.
Results will be updated 6 p.m. Wednesday with ballots turned in on election day, according to the Franklin County Elections Department.
The four-year, $154 million measure will pay for athletics, educational opportunities, technology, curriculum, extracurricular activities, music and the arts, counselors, nurses, transportation and student safety.
It would tax about $2.08 on every $1,000 of assessed property value within the school district. On a home valued at $400,000, that’s about $832 a year.
The money is essential for funding enrichment programs and educational resources not paid for under Washington’s definition of basic education.
It fills the gap between the programmatic funding they receive from the state and federal governments, and what schools actually need to provide students a holistic education. The local tax plus a state match makes up about $50 million in annual funding for the school district, or about 13% of its $340 million operating budget.
Pasco School District is coming off a levy failure on Feb. 10 that saw a similar request fail by 60 votes, with low turnout from the district’s staff, teachers and coaches.
This is the district’s last opportunity to secure local funding before its current levy expires at the end of 2026. Without the money, cuts would have to be made this spring to go in effect for the 2026-27 school year.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 8:39 PM.
