Wahluke School District decides against second capital levy vote

MATTAWA — Wahluke School District officials have decided against submitting a capital levy to district voters for a second time. Instead, district officials will use federal funds Wahluke received to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak, along with district funds, to pay for some of the projects.

Wahluke Superintendent Andy Harlow said the district received about $1.6 million in federal funding, which will be used to replace the heating-cooling system at Saddle Mountain Elementary School. The money came through the Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER) program, and also paid for the district’s two new portable classrooms.

“We really, really got lucky,” Harlow said.

District officials want to focus on rebuilding the relationship between the school district and district patrons, Harlow said. That was one of the lessons he took from the levy rejection.

“We feel the levy showed us we have a lot of work to do,” Harlow said.

The district’s educational programs and operations levy will be on the ballot in 2022, and Harlow said district officials are focusing on preparing the proposal and getting out information about it.

The heating-cooling system was one of the largest projects in the capital levy, which was rejected by voters in February. The proposal received 381 “no” votes, or 55.3%, and 308 “yes” votes, or 44.7%.

The levy would have raised $1.5 million each year for three years, and included money for a roof replacement at Saddle Mountain and Mattawa elementaries. Harlow said district officials will use money from the general fund to pay for the roof replacements.

The Saddle Mountain roof project is estimated to cost about $450,000. The cost to replace the Mattawa Elementary roof was estimated at about $300,000.

There were other projects included in the levy and the district will have to come up with ways to pay for those. Projects included security upgrades for all district schools, modernizing fire alarms at Mattawa Elementary and Wahluke Junior High, and irrigation system upgrades throughout the district. Also included were resurfacing the parking lot at Wahluke High School, new hallway carpet at Saddle Mountain Elementary and new scoreboards for the gyms at WJH and Saddle Mountain and Mattawa elementaries.

“It (the ESSER money) doesn’t solve all of our issues,” Harlow said.

Harlow said district officials have taken district patrons for granted, and it will take an effort to rebuild the relationship with the community. Part of that process is writing a strategic plan, which will be shared with district patrons.

Harlow said district officials are working on one-year, three-year and five-year plans, and will be asking district patrons for their opinions.