EVERETT — Well before the Marysville School District’s current operations levy expires in 2027, school officials have already begun a four-phase plan to build trust and educate voters.
The district’s Educational Programs and Operations levy funds athletics, safety personnel, nursing services, counselors, supervisory staff and maintaining smaller class sizes, according to interim Superintendent Deborah Rumbaugh. The district anticipates Marysville voters will be asked to renew the levy when it expires.
The tax rate and total funding generated by the 2027 levy will be determined in 2026 after the school board studies current and projected costs, Rumbaugh said in an email.
“A key part of our success is our ability to utilize local dollars (levies) to support programs and positions that are underfunded or not funded by the state,” said Marysville School Board member Craig Hereth in an email. “School districts are unable to function without the support of local levies.”
School districts cannot campaign for a yes vote, Rumbaugh said. So, Marysville’s campaign focuses on trust building and education.
Phase one began in September and is all about earning the community’s trust, Hereth wrote. In phase two, the district will start educating about levies in general.
Phase three will clarify the levy’s role in school finance, and in phase four the district will connect the levy to the community with stories and testimonials.
Partnership and trust are always important to Rumbaugh and the district — especially before educating voters about a future levy, she said in an interview Monday. “We can’t tell the story of the levy and what it provides for our district without our community — and voters will vote yes or no based upon their trust in the district.”
In 2022, the district lost out on $25 million in funding due to a double levy failure. This and other factors put the district in a critical financial position.
“Another double levy failure will impact Marysville to the degree that there are questions around can we even recover from that, given the financial position that we’re in now,” Rumbaugh said.
In 2023, voters passed a downsized four-year levy, and the school board passed a balanced budget in August 2025. While the district’s financial position has improved, in May, state auditors said the situation still warrants significant oversight.
So now, the Marysville School District is looking to its next levy.
“In February of 2027, will we be completely financially recovered?” Rumbaugh said. “Hopefully. That is the intent by then and beyond. But there are also expenditures that a district can’t predict that could play a role, and so we will still be in a financially fragile place.”
A continued balanced budget in 2027 includes the passage of the levy, she said.
“To lose such a significant portion of revenue would put us back in a place where the question is, could we recover a second time from the challenges that we have faced?” she said. “There are strong questions around, how could we sustain ourselves through a second financial crisis?”
The community doesn’t yet trust the district to manage its finances, Rumbaugh said. So the first phase of the district’s plan is to increase transparency and build that trust.
“So this first phase is demonstrating to the community that we can produce a balanced budget, that we can build back a fund balance, and we have mechanisms to share that information with the community,” she said.
Phase one will continue until February 2026. A community budget committee will begin meeting in late October, Rumbaugh said. Also, the school board will relay budget information to the community during meetings.
“I think that our emphasis on this work so early speaks to our understanding on the need to build trust, and knowledge and understanding around the importance of levies,” she said.
In phase two, the district wants to educate the community on how levies work and what the 2023 levy funds, Rumbaugh said.
While phase two is scheduled to occur between March and August 2026, education “starts early and it’s ongoing,” Rumbaugh said. “We’ll be on an education campaign about our levy all the way through election night,” in February 2027.
In phase three, the district hopes to “frame the choice,” Rumbaugh said, by explaining where and how the money is used.
“Everyone has the right to vote yes and certainly to vote no,” she said. Phase three will help the community understand “what that means back in the classroom for individual students.”
The phase is scheduled from September to December 2026.
Tentatively set for January and February 2027, phase four is designed for the district to provide information, testimonials and stories so the community will “vote their conscience when ballots arrive,” Rumbaugh said.
“We want, at the end of this levy campaign, is for our community members to be able to share the reasons why school districts run levies and what they support,” she said. “We can provide our community with the information and the testimonials and the stories to be able to tell the reasons why this is important for us.”
Phase four is scheduled to occur between January and February 2027. However, the overall timeline is fluid, Rumbaugh said.
“Sometimes we have to move forward and move back and kind of course correct as needed,” she said. “Really, what we’re looking at is responding to the community.”
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
