Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

M&O levy

About The Measure

Three-year M&O levy amount: $23,520,000

Cost per $1,000 assessed value now: $4.29

Estimated new rate: $4.69

Complete Coverage

West Valley’s truancy board a model program

Bored with his West Valley High School classes, Harrison Calligan thought skipping school with friends might be more challenging. The teen figured out how to block the school’s numbers from his home phone so his mother couldn’t be alerted to his absence, and after lunch he’d leave school.

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.”

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.”

Efforts bring higher graduation rates at area high schools

Fewer students in Spokane are dropping out of school. Spokane Public Schools improved its on-time graduation rate by 8 percentage points in 2010, state data showed Thursday, and officials credit efforts to update how students are tracked and dropout intervention programs.