Two school levies passing

Voters approved replacement levies for the Hood Canal and Mary M. Knight school districts, while a Hood Canal building bond is falling short of a 60% super majority.

In initial ballot results released at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Mary M. Knight levy received 57.19% of the vote, and the Hood Canal levy 59.61%. Hood Canal's proposed bond to expand and renovate was at 56.16%.

The Mason County Auditor's Office released the second count of ballots at 4 p.m. Wednesday, after the Journal went to press. Turnout for the initial count was at 33.87%. The county is set to certify election results Feb. 18.

The Mary M. Knight District's new two-year levy will collect $586,187 for the 2023 tax year and $639,632 for the 2024 tax year. The levy replaces a two-year levy passed by voters in February 2020 by 53.33%.

"I'm very happy the

community supported the Mary M. Knight School District," Superintendent Matt Mallery said in a phone interview with the Journal. "They have a history of that."

The levy received 183 "yes" votes and 137 "no" votes, with 56.55% of Mason County residents and 63.33% of Grays Harbor residents voting "yes."

District homeowners will be assessed a maximum of $2.33 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, which is lower then the current levy of $2.50 per $1,000. The current levy expires at the end of the year.

With the levy passage, the district will qualify for additional levy equalization money of $2 million.

The district has about 165 students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. About 18% of them live in Grays Harbor County

In a telephone interview with the Journal, Hood Canal Superintendent Nikki Grubbs expressed mixed feelings.

"I'm thankful to the community for passing the levy," she said. "That's the money that helps us survive."

The new tax rate for the replacement levy is an estimated $1.04 per $1,000 of assessed home value.

Grubbs said she is disappointed with the initial results of the bond vote at 56.16%.

The building bond would create a new junior high school building, additional classrooms for early learning programs, a more accessible playground and a new transportation maintenance building. The building bond would collect $25.13 million over 20 years.

Enrollment has grown recently from 310 to 340 students, Grubbs said.

"We are totally out of space," she said.

The Hood Canal School Board will decide whether to put a building bond before voters again, Grubbs said.

The board could place it on the ballot in April, or wait until next fall, Grubbs said. By then, the possible elimination of mask mandates might change the "political climate" and make voters more supportive of the bond, she said.

The state should consider eliminating the 60% super majority to pass building bonds and make passage a simple majority, Grubbs said.

The Hood Canal School District teaches students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. The school is on the Skokomish tribal reservation, and almost half the students are Native Americans. According to the district, about 85% of the students live in poverty. The district has 30 certified staff members, and 30 classified staff employees.