Darrington schools hope the 2nd time is the charm for levy

Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 28, 2026

EVERETT — The Darrington School District is hoping to avoid a double levy failure as it sends an operations funding measure to voters in August.

Failure to pass the levy could result in the loss of its entire athletics program and staff cuts, said McKenzie Boyd, the district’s business manager, in an interview on May 22.

“In general, it takes at least a decade to kind of climb back from that,” Boyd said about a double levy failure.

The district’s current operations levy, which brings in $950,000 a year and accounts for about 10% of the entire budget, will expire at the end of 2026. Residents will vote to maintain that same level of funding through 2030, with a projected rate of $1.24 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $248 a year.

In February, a levy sent to voters would have raised between $1.7 million and $1.9 million per year. It failed by a 57.2% to 42.8% margin.

“I was sad for what this is going to mean for our students and staff, and our community,” Superintendent Tracy Franke said of the levy loss on May 22.

The district asked for more money to keep up with inflation, expand its music program and add staffing, Franke said.

“We were hoping to bring in more behavior support for our students,” she said. “We were hoping to bring in band to enhance our music program.”

In 2022, the Marysville School District experienced a double levy failure, leading to financial issues and significant state oversight. In 2023, voters passed a reduced levy, but district officials didn’t approve a balanced budget until 2025, after school closures and a restructured education model. The state eased its oversight in December.

Losing athletics would be significant, Franke said. It would “drop our enrollment, which will then drop our revenue,” she said. “It has even a bigger impact than just the levy not passing.”

An athletics program also helps with student outcomes, Boyd said.

“For a lot of students, being able to participate in athletics is one of the main incentives that they have for keeping their grades up,” she said. “Without that incentive, there is that risk that their level of engagement with school could decline.”

State law only allows school districts to put a levy before voters twice a year. If the levy fails, Darrington could try again in 2027 but wouldn’t receive any new funding until 2028.

Maintaining the levy at $950,000 a year will still mean cuts, including arts at the elementary level and all music programs, Franke said.

“We’ll have to decrease staffing. We’re still working through the budget and looking at a lot of different options,” she said.

The district needs to have a balanced budget in place by July 31, before the August election, Boyd said.

“Not knowing the outcome of the levy until, you know, after Aug. 4 means that we have to move ahead with a budget that includes those cuts with the hopes that, if it passes, we will be able to reinstate those,” she said.

The district will continue to educate the public about the new levy proposal, receive input from community members and work with a levy committee to combat misinformation, Franke said.

“That’s really important, that we make sure that when a comment is made that is inaccurate that we are able to provide accurate information so that voters are making an informed decision,” she said.

The levy committee is made up of both district employees and members of the public, Boyd said.

Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay