Mukilteo students need yes votes on school levies

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 1, 2022

In 2020, the Mukilteo School District bond barely passed, the only school bond to pass in Snohomish County. Only about 28 percent of registered voters cast ballots. I get that we are all tired; if it’s not pandemic fatigue, it’s voter fatigue, or decision fatigue, but ignoring an issue won’t make it go away.

In fact, it will compound problems in an already problematic couple of years. In Mukilteo, there are two levies on the Feb. 8 ballot, and they are both replacement levies, which means that the district is asking voters to continue funding that is due to expire at the end of this year. It means that if voters do nothing, 15 percent of the Mukilteo School District budget (and its associated programs and services) will be cut.

What is potentially on the chopping block? After school programs such as athletics, clubs and band/orchestra; funding for substitute teachers; technical support for the 13,000 laptops currently in use; the ability to maintain security cameras that were purchased in 2014; and being able to keep HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire panel systems “up to code.” Much of these maintenance services are provided by local companies, so funds do make their way back to the community.

Please, dig out that ballot from your stack of mail, and vote “yes” to support the levies. There’s no long list of candidates to figure out, no endless string of bubbles to fill in; just the two levies. The cost of inaction is too great.

Melina Oei

Mukilteo