SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Leaders with the East Valley School District are hoping to renew two levies on the Feb. 11 special election.
The educational and operational levy (EPNO) is $10 million, and the capital levy is $7 million.
If approved, the EPNO levy would renew for four years.
It covers extracurricular activities and updates to technology, like laptops in the district’s high schools.
It would also maintain funding for the district’s 60 employees.
“Our levy dollars allow us to fund positions that the state does not fund so that we can continue to meet a certain standard,” said Kelly Shea, the district’s superintendent.
The levy would also add a second deputy resource officer to the district, so the schools would be evenly divided between officers.
“I think families will feel better if when they send their children to school that we are paying attention to the things that we can do to physically keep them safe,” Shea said.
The EPNO levy would cost voters about $2.50 per thousand dollars of their home’s value.
If approved, the capital levy would renew for two years.
It includes construction on four new parking lots at the district’s elementary schools.
The new lots would allow parents to drop off their students closer to a school’s entrance, instead of near the street.
“It gives us a safer way for kids to get onto the school grounds,” Shea said.
The lots would also provide additional parking spaces for staff.
The capital levy would cost voters about $0.90 for every thousand dollars of their home’s value.