Island County elections workers are worried some Oak Harbor and Camano Island voters could be missing absentee ballots for the May 16 school elections because of a printing mistake.
Absentee ballots were mailed this week for bond and levy requests in four school districts in Snohomish and Island counties.
In Island County, 348 voters received two ballots each because of an error.
| School elections
Absentee ballots for the May 16 election were mailed this week to voters in four school districts in Snohomish and Island counties: Stanwood-Camano School District Proposition 1: $110.7 million bond measure Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: $1.03 What it would do: Rebuild Stanwood High School and make other capital improvements to Port Susan Middle, Stanwood Middle, Stanwood Elementary and Twin City Elementary schools. Proposition 2: $5 million technology levy Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: 20 cents What it would do: Six-year technology levy averaging $833,333 annually to update equipment and other projects. Proposition 3: $8.8 million bond measure Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: 9 cents What it would do: Overhaul Stanwood High School stadium complex. Oak Harbor School District Proposal: $54 million bond measure Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: 85 cents What it would do: Rebuild Oak Harbor High School. Sultan School District Proposal: Four-year maintenance and operation levy renewal Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: $3.05 What it would do: The levy would replace an expiring one and covers 16 percent of the district’s operating budget. Index School District* Proposal: Four-year maintenance and operation levy renewal Estimated cost per $1,000 assessed value: $2.49 What it would do: The levy would replace an expiring one and covers 22 percent of the school’s operating budget. *Mail-only election |
Auditor Suzanne Sinclair said there is no danger of votes being counted twice because individuals are logged as having voted when workers check each signature. But she worries some people may not have received ballots at all.
“We are only fearful that someone might have gotten overlooked, and we don’t want that,” Sinclair said.
Island County residents living in the two school districts should have received their ballots in the mail by now. If not, they are urged to contact the auditor’s office at 360-679-7366 or elections@co. island.wa.us.
Voters who received two ballots should tear up one and throw it away, Sinclair said.
Nearly $182 million worth of construction projects, technology purchases and day-to-day operation funds are on ballots across the four school districts in Snohomish and Island counties:
The Stanwood-Camano School District has three requests, including a $110.7 million bond measure to modernize Stanwood High School and make other capital improvements.
Also on that ballot are a $5 million technology levy and an $8.8 million bond to improve the athletic stadium.
The Oak Harbor School District is seeking a $54 million bond to modernize Oak Harbor High School.
The Sultan School District will seek a renewal of its four-year maintenance and operation levy for a second time. The levy would raise $3.2 million the first year.
The Index School District is also seeking a renewal of its operation levy. The $180,000 it would raise covers 22 percent of the tiny one-school system’s budget.
In a February election, Sultan’s operation levy fell 75 votes shy of passing at the required 60 percent supermajority mark.
Boosters blamed low turnout.
“We didn’t have a big ‘no’ vote; we just didn’t have enough of a vote at all,” said Debbie Copple of Sky Valley Citizens for Education.
The levy covers 16 percent of the district’s budget. If the renewal request fails this time, the school will make $2 million in budget cuts next school year and another $1.3 million the year after that.
All sports and extracurricular activities would be eliminated, along with the equivalent of 12 teacher positions. Spending on staff training and instructional materials would be frozen. And busing would be cut for students living within one mile of their school in the rural area.
“This is really not extra money. This is for the services that people expect,” Superintendent Al Robinson said.
Stanwood-Camano School District leaders have met with well over 1,500 people in the last six months as they finalized some of their largest construction proposals ever.
The highlight of the $110.7 million bond proposal is a $104 million overhaul of Stanwood High School, a price tag offset by about $8 million in state matching funds.
Volunteers with a citizens group have pulled out all the stops to promote the measures, with newspaper advertisements, letter-writing campaigns, postcards, bumper stickers, signs, door hangers and messages on business reader boards.
During a community-wide cleanup today, district employees will wear orange T-shirts that say “Vote Yes for Schools” on the back.
The proposals together would raise the tax rate by $1.32 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $396 per year on a $300,000 house.
“But $40 a month I think we know is easy, with things like going out to dinner and lattes, when we see what it’s going for,” said Karen Hushagen, a school speech therapist who is helping lead the campaign.
Oak Harbor also is looking to remake its high school. The school, designed in 1972, has become cramped, inefficient and prone to leaks because of a flat roof. There also are safety worries, with as many as 75 entry points in the open campus.
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