MOSES LAKE, Wash. –The Moses Lake School district is placing an estimated $53 million, four-year levy on the February Special Election Ballot.
The district is currently dealing with a recent $20 million dollar budget shortfall where around 200 employees were laid off.
This levy is not new, but rather, a replacement of the last levy voters passed in 2021 that expired at the end of 2024.
If this levy passes, voters would pay $150 for every $100,000 of assessed property value. That means if you own a home valued at $400,000, you would be paying an estimated $600 a year for this levy.
“These things that we have outlined are academic support, athletics and activities specialists for elementary schools,” said MSLD Superintendent Carol Lewis. “So things like music and maintenance and custodial to keep our kids safe and keep our staff safe and have our buildings clean and maintained adequately.”
Sports and other extracurricular activities play a key role in many students’ wellbeing and overall school experience.
“As a competitive person, I’m really excited to go out and play and compete and just have fun with my teammates and meet new friends. That’s really important because sometimes, as introverts, we sometimes miss out on making friends like these,” said senior varsity basketball player Kaya Char.
Char said it was scary thinking about potentially losing the ability to compete her senior year.
A main reason athletics and some other activities were able to continue this school year was because the local nonprofit, CAA (The Community Athletics and Activities) group, came together and raised over $700,000 to fund the programs.
“It’s of huge, huge importance to those kids. We’re pouring into our future, essentially. If we don’t do that, what does that look like in the next ten years,” said CAA President Ryan Carpenter.
Carpenter said the fundraising worked for this year, but it’s not a sustainable solution. The levy would need to pass to cover the costs going forward.
It’s a bit of a risk for the district to propose this levy, since the last two levies failed last year.
Some have expressed distrust in the district after an $11 million accounting error came to light in 2024. The district said it understands those concerns and is taking significant steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
If this levy doesn’t pass, the district warns the community of the potential risks.
“We would have to reduce our academic support, and that would likely mean laying off more staff. We would have to figure out how to use less of everything. We would likely see a further reduction in the course offerings that our secondary students have,” said Superintendent Lewis.
For more information on the levy, click HERE.
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