School district glad to see levies pass

Published 10:38 pm Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Bainbridge Island School District Supt. Faith Chapel can breathe easy after the results were posted Tuesday night that showed both school levies passing by majority vote.

Prop. 1, which is the supplemental programs and operations levy, is passing with 60.64 percent of the vote. Prop. 2, which is to replace the exisiting school levy, is passing with 54.65 percent of the vote.

“We’re very pleased,” she said. “We are grateful for the community support. It absolutely makes a difference for us.”

The levy victories come at a time when Chapel and the district must deal with another series of cuts from the State Legislature.

Chapel revealed at a recent district budget advisory meeting that they will face a 6.29 percent reduction when Gov. Chris Gregoire makes her presentation of the budget in December.

Chapel also said the district is facing a very preliminary – Chapel said to put an emphasis on preliminary – deficit of $500,000 for the 2011-2012 school year, but those numbers will change now that the levies are on the way to passing.

“It is very critical for us as it will help fill those positions that we may lose through the loss of state funding,” she said.

The vote totals will be updated Wednesday at 5 p.m.