By Katie Teachout
The Journal 

Voters to decide on levy

 

Last updated 2/4/2021 at 9:01am



SPRAGUE – Voters will be deciding whether or not to approve a two-year educational and operational levy for the Sprague School District.

Ballots were mailed out Jan. 20, and must be returned postmarked no later than Feb. 9.

The levy would replace an expiring two-year levy approved in 2019, and the rate will not be increasing.

“We’re not asking for what we could,” said Superintendent Bill Ressel. “We are anticipating at least 76 students, which doesn’t sound like a lot for most districts. But we could be asking for $2,650 per full-time student, which brings us above the $195,000 mark that we’re just going to leave it at and ask for. Just like we did in the previous levy that passed in 2019.”

The levy amount for the collection years 2022-23 would be $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed property values, for a total of $195,000 each year.

For homes with an assessed value of $75,000, the tax would amount to $126 per year; and for homes assessed at $150,000, the tax would equal $252 per year.

The levy would fund programs at the school outside of state-defined basic education funding, including preschool for three and four year olds, and extracurricular activities such as athletics, music and FFA.

Levy funds also support transportation costs for extracurricular activities, staff stipends for extracurricular commitments, and maintenance and operation costs outside of basic education funding.

Asked if there were funds left over, since extracurricular activities have been shut down since last March, Ressel replied there were.

“But I think as we start opening up, those funds are going to be eaten up pretty quickly,” Ressel said.

As a school district within the Lind-Ritzville athletic compound, Ressel said transportation costs run high.

“We do pay 20%, for all athletics with Lind and Ritzville, as far as cost of coaches and uniforms and all that,” Ressel said.

The compound includes Lind, Ritzville, Washtucna, Kahlotus and Sprague.

“For a small district, that’s a little bit of a cost involved,” Ressel said. “On top of that, we have to transport all the kids over there for practice.”

Ressel said the school district, for now, is doing its own on-campus conditioning, but he hoped it would end Feb. 10 with the start of football practice on the Ritzville campus if the region is able to move to Phase 2 of Governor Inslee’s plan.

“I am fully anticipating that we are going to be able to have some sports this year, so we will start utilizing those funds,” Ressel said. “Along with that, of course, we have our regular clubs and activities. We can’t say that we don’t need to have levy money just because we have a little bit currently left over from the last half of a year of the levy. We have to be looking forward, and as we start to open up again we are going to need to create a full experience for our kids.”

Ressel said a good portion of the Sprague levy funds were also spent on their preschool program.

“This year we’re only doing four-year-olds, but we’re going to start offering three-and-four-year-olds again weekly, and have it in our school so they can have a regular set curriculum and continue to grow so they’re ready for kindergarten. That’s another thing that we’re going to fully plan on doing next year.”

Ressel said the district scaled back on administrative costs by having him fulfill the roles of both the superintendent and principal at Sprague.

“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that we’re basically using every nickel that we have, and using our constituents’ money very carefully and wisely,” Ressel said. “We’re not going to try to ask for more than we truly need. We’re not planning to increase the ask amount. We’re trying to minimize the effect of people dealing with potential situations with COVID that have kind of hurt them financially as well. And just keep our schools viable and strong, but at the same time balance that with what people can afford and what we asked for before.”

Ressel said he hopes people get out and vote.

“With this whole situation, it’s just an unknown,” Ressel said. “You hope people will send in their ballots, and they’ll still think positively about us. We want to get through this and get back to a normal school experience for our kids, and have enough money to do it and go from there.”

Author Bio

Katie Teachout, Editor

Katie Teachout is the editor of The Ritzville Adams County Journal. Previously, she worked as a reporter at The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle, the Oroville Gazette-Tribune, Northern Kittitas County Tribune and the Methow Valley News. She is a graduate of Western Washington University.

 

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