CV school levy
About The Measure
This is a proposed three-year property tax levy.
Voters in the Central Valley School District are being asked to approve an excess levy of $4.19 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which would raise an estimated $27.1 million annually for maintenance and operations beginning in 2013 to supplement the district’s state funding.
The school district’s current levy of $3.54 per $1,000 of assessed property value is expiring.
If approved by voters, the owner of a $150,000 home, for example would pay $628.50 per year.
A copy of Central Valley School Board’s resolution authorizing the levy request can be found here.
A fact sheet produced by the Central Valley School District can be found here.
Complete Coverage
Fired teacher sues CV district
Former University High School teacher Michael Cronin has filed a lawsuit against the Central Valley School District alleging he was improperly fired from his job while he was serving a jail sentence at Geiger Corrections Center. Cronin was placed on paid administrative leave twice: once in 2009 while the district investigated claims that he was drunk at school and inappropriately touched a female student and a female staff member, and again in 2011 when the district learned he had been sentenced to jail on two drunken driving-related charges. A second student also came forward alleging Cronin had inappropriately touched her.
Fired U-Hi teacher sues school district
Former University High School teacher Michael Cronin has filed a lawsuit against the Central Valley School District alleging he was improperly fired from his job while he was serving a jail sentence at Geiger Corrections.
Schoolteachers thank community for supporting levies
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.
Schools asking voters to replace state funds
Spokane Public Schools’ board agreed Wednesday to ask voters in February to consider paying more taxes in a levy to compensate for potential state cuts to K-12 education. The region’s largest district is not alone.
Home away from homelessness
Britain Webb has been homeless twice while attending University High School. Domestic violence forced the 17-year-old’s mother and siblings out of their Spokane Valley apartment the first time, Webb said. The second time, their house burned down. Through all his turmoil, school has been a constant. “Going to school is a very big part of life in general,” Webb said. “That’s how you get through it. … Being at school was pretty much the highlight of my day.”
Cut to school bus funds not idle talk
School buses could become scarce in parts of Washington as the state grapples with budget shortfalls. Among the list of cuts Gov. Chris Gregoire is considering: State funds to help transport students to and from school could be eliminated. Although not one of Gregoire’s preferred cuts, it would save $220 million and is on her list of ideas to deal with a $2 billion budget shortfall.
Students deluge districts
Megan Elliott is an experienced elementary school teacher, but she wasn’t prepared for an overcrowded kindergarten class. “We are just actually getting to the point where we can function,” said Elliot, who has 29 children in her class at Spokane’s Whitman Elementary School. “It will be easier when the class is smaller.”
Remedial math routine for local grads at CCS
The percentage of students taking remedial math classes at Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College is an eye-popping statistic. Of the 2009-’10 graduates from Spokane Public Schools who were admitted to the community colleges, 86.8 percent required remedial math after taking placement tests. For Central Valley School District students it was 92.4 percent, and for Mead School District students, 81.1 percent.
Central Valley schools face suit
A Seattle attorney filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Central Valley School District, alleging that a former teacher sexually assaulted his client as a child some 45 years ago. Attorney James Rogers said in a news release that his client was abused several times by former teacher Howard Clayton Moos between 1964 and 1966. Rogers didn’t name his client, who is listed in the suit as “John Doe,” but said the former student was born in 1954.
State changing educator ratings
SEATTLE – While their students can earn anything from an A to an F for their school performance, nearly every American teacher gets one of two grades – unsatisfactory or meets expectations – and almost all earn a passing grade. That is about to change in Washington and many other states where more nuanced teacher evaluation systems are being developed, at least partly in response to the federal Race to the Top competition.