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Boundary schools face cuts despite levy win

First-graders Lacie Redding, left, and Talia Liermann helped pass out the smiley-face stickers at Naples Elementary School in honor of the Boundary County school levy, which passed with 57 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Naples Elementary School was slated for closure if the levy failed. But even with the election success, the district will still have to make cuts. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
Taryn Brodwater Staff writer
First-graders Lacie Redding, left, and Talia Liermann helped pass out the smiley-face stickers at Naples Elementary School in honor of the Boundary County school levy, which passed with 57 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Naples Elementary School was slated for closure if the levy failed. But even with the election success, the district will still have to make cuts. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Jim Adamson logged on to the Internet on Tuesday night and discovered he’ll still have a job come fall.

The lead teacher at Naples Elementary School said he was “pleased and surprised” when he saw that the Boundary County School District levy passed on its second attempt. If the levy had failed, his rural school would have closed.

“It’s always nice to know you’re going to exist for a couple more years,” Adamson said Wednesday from the school.

The final tally showed 57 percent of voters Tuesday approved the levy, which will collect $799,700 a year for the next two years. A simple majority was needed for the levy to pass. There was a 39 percent increase in turnout compared with the one-year levy that failed in March, with only 48 percent voter approval.

Originally, the school district said the community would not get a second chance to pass the levy. In a decision that was criticized by some taxpayers, the school board reconsidered and also tacked on another year to the levy proposal that will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $149.51 a year – a reduction of $34.64 from current taxes.

School sports, textbook purchases, jobs and several programs all hinged on the success of the levy.

But even with the election success, the district will have to make cuts because the levy approved Tuesday is smaller than the one that’s expiring. The school week will be four days starting in the fall, resulting in a 20 percent pay cut for many classified employees, including bus drivers and custodians.

According to the school district’s Web site, 3,504 votes were cast in Tuesday’s election, with 2,003 favoring the levy and 1,494 opposed.

“We’re just so excited,” high school bookkeeper Karen Ripatti said Wednesday. “We just could not envision a school year without sports and activities. It would have been pretty boring.”