Absentees increase the lead for five levies

By Eric Stevick

Herald Writer

If Tuesday was celebration, Friday was confirmation for five school districts with maintenance and operation levies on the ballot.

All five of the levy proposals passed, and their margins of victory each increased when absentee ballots were counted Friday.

"It’s very exciting," said Jean Shumate, superintendent of the Stanwood-Camano School District.

All told, more than $75 million worth of levy proposals passed in the Arlington, Darrington, Index, Snohomish and Stanwood-Camano districts. It’s possible a few more ballots could trickle in, but not enough to change any outcomes. Complete results are due May 2.

The levies, which generally represent about 15 percent of school district budgets, require a 60 percent supermajority to pass. Each district exceeded that threshold by a comfortable margin.

For Arlington, Darrington, Snohomish and Stanwood-Camano, Tuesday’s election was the second and final chance to pass levies this year. Each experienced levy failures in February, and state law allows only two school levy elections a year. Levy failure could have meant cutbacks.

Supporters of the levy in the Stanwood-Camano district were particularly pleased with the showing on Camano Island. With more than 61 percent yes vote, longtime observers said they couldn’t remember when a levy or bond fared as well on the Island County end of the district, Shumate said.

There remains a voter disparity between the Stanwood and Camano Island ends of the district. The yes vote in Snohomish County, traditionally much higher than Island County, was 66 percent.

"I want to spend time and find out what are the issues on Camano Island that we still need to address," Shumate said.

She said the district and its levy supporters did a better job of informing the public about how important the locally generated money is to running the schools.

Here is a look at each district’s election results after the absentee votes were counted: