Schoolteachers thank community for supporting levies
After levies’ success, celebrations include sign-waving at street corners to thank voters
Central Valley School District employees waved brightly lettered signs reading “Thank you” at passing motorists in Spokane Valley on Thursday to show appreciation to voters who helped pass the levy.
“We take the extra effort to stand out on the corner to get people to vote, and I just thought it was important to take the extra effort and stand out there and say thank you,” said Central Valley High School Principal Mike Hittle, who came up with the idea.
The endeavor was a first for Central Valley School District. Employees attached hand-written thank you notes to Vote Yes signs used during the campaign “so people would know what we were thanking them for,” Hittle said.
Spokane Public Schools and Mead School District employees started post-levy sign-waving after the 2003 levy and also have been out at busy intersections before and after school this week, officials said.
District officials throughout the region were nervous leading up to Tuesday’s levy election because of an aggressive anti-levy campaign and residents’ concerns about higher property taxes, so K-12 officials in the three largest districts were especially grateful the local taxes were approved.
“We wanted to thank the community for their continued support, especially in the current environment we’re in,” said Wayne Leonard, Mead School District’s business manager. “We want people to know we don’t take that support for granted.”
Said Hittle, “Quite often, as people, we do things in our normal life or whatever, and we don’t always say thank you. I just thought it was the right thing to do.”