Dear Snohomish friends and neighbors: I write to you as a Snohomish community member, parent, and assistant superintendent of schools.
Much has been written lately about tax rates, assessed valuations and school funding. As important as these pieces of information are, they fail to shine light on the whole picture.
In 1939, toward the end of the Depression, Superintendent P.A. Wright described our community on a University of Washington radio show. “The beauty of public grounds — the stability of homes, plus the … location… make Snohomish a real hometown. An extended family of friendly neighbors working ever toward one end; an ideal place to live and rear your children; a city where attention is given to the cultural as well as the ordinary; a busy, thrifty, happy home town.”
For the past century, Snohomish schools have strived to realize these ideals. Our vocational programs have led the nation in excellence since Snohohmish High received the first federal grant in the Northwest under the Smith-Hughes Act (1917). Our biotechnology students now conduct research with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
These are only a few reminders of the whole picture. Children. Community. Innovation. Inspiration. Challenge. Joy. These represent Snohomish. We are not perfect. We have our challenges. But we have always been a community of abundance, even in difficult times.
Please consider the vital place schools hold in our community as you cast your vote on the Snohomish School District levies.
Scott Peacock
Snohomish
