Three MLHS seniors discuss levy election impacts

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District is running an Educational Programs and Operations Levy on the Feb. 11 ballot. MLSD students Javier Gonzalez, Jaciel Valdez and Andee Stevens said they’ve felt the impacts of the double levy failure in 2024.  

“I saw the impacts; it wasn't even hard to find them,” Gonzalez said. “You just go to the high school, you see a bunch of teachers are gone. You see class sizes that are humongous. I mean, at the beginning of the school year, you'd have teachers that weren't teachers, they were long-term subs until they could find teachers. I mean it was kind of a mess.” 

Gonzalez is an 18-year-old senior at Moses Lake High School. He has been in the district since kindergarten and said both his parents also attended MLSD. He participates in Knowledge Bowl, a team-based academic trivia club, Future Farmers of America and helps coach the middle school Science Olympiad club.  

“I mean, as a senior, especially, it feels a bit like you were stabbed or jabbed — like you were cheated out of a normal school year in your last year,” Gonzalez said. “Last year, no one had to worry about the budget until the end. Well, this year we're having to worry about it. It's just another thing to think about on top of maintaining your grades, maintaining your active social life, maintaining your clubs. It's just another thing on top of everything we already deal with. Then we have to think about what resources we're going to have access to.” 

Stevens, 17, is a senior at MLHS as well. She’s a track and field athlete and participates in speech and debate and National Honor Society after moving to Moses Lake from Spokane Valley about two years ago.  

“I've noticed a lot of students are stressed and frustrated because they feel like they don't have as many opportunities to be successful and to really show that they're learning and that they are striving to become better,” Stevens said. “They're trying to learn and involve themselves in all the extracurriculars. I know a lot of seniors who are frustrated because they don't have all the same things as – they don't have all of the free money to be able to throw an amazing prom, or to be able to have an amazing graduation and it's frustrating.” 

Valdez, 18, is another senior at MLHS. He participates in both cross country and track and is also a member of TRIO Upward Bound.  

Academics  

The three students said that, although teachers were trying to make the budget shortfall as unnoticeable to students as possible, there were still impacts to their learning this year.  

“There's less classes, specifically (advanced placement) classes for students who stay in the high school,” Valdez said. “There's less students overall in my grade because they transferred to Running Start. Which, I mean, I don't blame them. There are no more programs, no more classes that students are interested in.” 

Gonzales and Stevens expressed similar sentiments saying the lack of AP classes had impacts on them and many of their peers.  

Stevens said she is still in a couple of AP classes, all online based, this year. However, with the lack of access to bring home the Chromebooks, she is struggling to find time to complete the courses. 

“I don't really have access to a laptop when I'm at home, and so a lot of my work has to be done at school regarding my AP classes,” Stevens said. “It's kind of frustrating to be able to know that AP classes are a college-level class and that they obviously are going to take more than a regular class amount of homework would. To have to do that at school during a lecture or multitasking is a little bit stressful. It kind of challenges me to make sure that I'm learning everything.” 

Stevens said there has been a lack of other needed supplies for some of her classes such as textbooks or supplies for her photography course.  

Athletics 

Valdez said he noticed the biggest impacts in athletics. He said it has been particularly difficult navigating because of the lack of transportation for sports. Parents have been driving students around the state to ensure they won’t miss the different meets. 

“All my coaches in cross country got paid $1 — which in total is $5,” Valdez said. “They've told me that it's one of the greatest investments, because we made it to State this year, so it was worth it. It’s truly sad just having coaches in the district in our school get paid only $1 because they put a lot of effort and time into our sports.” 

Valdez said he was particularly concerned sports would not happen this year because of the budget shortfall. He explained that most colleges are seeking athletes during the students’ senior years – if he were not to have participated this year because of the budget shortfall, he would not have an opportunity to be scouted by colleges.  

“This levy is really important,” Valdez said. “I've heard there may be no sports next year, which sucks for the upcoming seniors who are interested in going on and beyond and making something out of their athletic careers.” 

Valdez said the community support has been helpful over this past year. He appreciates the organizations such as the Community Athletics and Activities Booster Club who helped ensure he would run this year.  

The Community Activities and Athletics nonprofit that formed this year to support student extracurriculars has said their efforts are a temporary fix and are unsustainable without the levy.  

“I would like to add that our community has helped through so many different donations and helped us from making sure this wasn’t really bad, but I feel upset too because why would people not vote for the levy,” Valdez said. “Why would you not vote on a levy to support your kids in the community? It is for the kids, for the students because that’s their future that is going to be affected by it.”  

Gonzalez said that although he is graduating, he is worried about the loss of activities and athletics if the levy fails, especially for his younger family members, who will still be enrolled in MLSD. 

“I already see the district economy is not how I remember it from a couple of years ago. I see all the cuts,” Gonzales said. “Are they going to miss out on experiences that I got? Let's say this next levy doesn't pass. They're probably not even going to have extracurriculars really to offer. School is fun to a point, in my opinion, but what makes attending school even funner are the extracurriculars, because I feel like that's where you make up more of your memories.” 

Teachers

Gonzalez is also concerned about the toll the lack of a levy, therefore less staff, is taking on his teachers.  

“I'm not ashamed to admit it – we tire our teachers out. They're going above and beyond this year – more than they ever have,” Gonzalez said. “I can't imagine next year; I can't imagine them being able to do it again. I mean, it's just too much – you're asking them to be, not just a teacher, but a paraeducator, a janitor, asking to do all these jobs. It’s too much.” 

Looking ahead 

Although all three students are graduating, they still said they would like to see the 2025 levy pass.  

“For me, it's very, very important. I mean, I'm graduating, I'm moving on, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about the Mavs, and I want a better future for my little sister, who's a freshman. The levy will change the lives of the students,” Stevens said. “It will allow them to be successful in not only high school and middle school but elementary school. It furthers the lives of the children of Moses Lake, and I believe that it's the step to take to provide that future for them.” 

Valdez said he is for the levy because it will help create and bring back opportunities for students in both academics and athletics. Although he won’t be able to participate, he wants his younger teammates to experience a normal athletic season without the worries of transportation, equipment or the sport being cut as a whole.  

“I am saying the levy is very critical,” Gonzalez said. “I'd be worried if the levy doesn't pass. I don't know, I honestly don't know what they would do if it doesn't pass. I don't think it's just critical. I think it's mandatory that it passes. I would just like to make it very poignant and clear that this levy must be passed at all costs for the sake of the future of Moses Lake and the kids.” 

    Three students from Moses Lake High School talked about their experiences after the double levy failure last spring. The three saw impacts in academics, athletics, teaching staff and more. All three reiterated the same sentiment – they don’t want more students to experience what they did.
  

    The Moses Lake School District had to make accommodations for the double levy failure and subsequently discovered financial errors last spring, one of which was pulling funding for athletics and activities. Despite the lack of funds, coaches worked for $1 seasonal salary and the students were able to compete.