Much success rests on bond, levy for Everett Public Schools

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, January 6, 2026

As elections and public libraries are cornerstones of engagement in American democracy, public schools are elementary to the success of our community and our future. They all demand consistent investment, involvement and affirmation. In this February’s special election, I urge you to choose a sensible and meaningful investment in Everett Public Schools infrastructure by approving the proposed construction bond, and a very reasonable and critical renewal of our current educational levy.

For detailed plans, visit www.everettsd.org/bond-levy-2026.

A new elementary school is absolutely needed, as are the proposed classrooms at existing elementary schools and security advancements. Educators and support staff are the most important resource to provide our youth an education, and the educational levy renewal makes up 15 percent of the district’s annual budget to pay for teachers, paraeducators, health staff, counselors and custodians.

Supporting Everett Public Schools is among the most effective, broadly reaching, and long-term investments we make in our community ecosystem. Our schools help youths chase and realize their myriad dreams, pay our neighbors fairly in careers as educators and construction workers, and dynamically improve business investment in our community, real estate values and our region’s economic prospects.

Communities that fail to invest in public schools choose a cycle of decline. They get overcrowded and unsafe schools with fewer great teachers and paraeducators. Students’ breadth and depth of learning suffer, and graduation rates fall. Then businesses don’t locate here, and home-grown companies leave because the future workforce is perceived as limited. Then quality of life and property values plummet.

Vote for both the construction bond and educational levy. It’s elementary.

Randy Bolerjack

Deputy Secretary of State

Everett