Letter: Vote yes on Kennewick school levy

I know we appreciate our quality of life in the Tri-Cities. We enjoy great schools and safe communities. As a police officer for 38 years, I know one of the reasons for our exceptional quality of life is the investment we have made in our schools.

In Kennewick, we passed a bond to build additional schools to keep up with growth. We have an equally important opportunity to support the Kennewick School District with the upcoming levy.

The levy supports almost 20 percent of the district’s budget. It pays for security (our school resource officers and security officers), operations, athletics/activities, instructional support, and technology, as well as the majority going to student learning and staffing.

The importance of this levy is to continue quality education, keep our kids in school through graduation and involve them in positive team-building activities. Students who are engaged in their education and other school activities have less of an opportunity to get in trouble, drop out, or be involved in criminal activity.

The levy rate is the same as it has been for the past two years. Please join us in voting yes to this very important community investment.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Letter: Vote yes on Kennewick school levy."