Citizens of the Raymond School District:

Feb. 13 is rapidly approaching! It is the deadline for submitting your vote for the Raymond School District’s replacement levy. This year the school district is asking for $1.97 per assessed $1,000 of your property value. This is 40 cents per $1,000 less than our current levy.

The levy amount that we are requesting you to approve was not decided in haste, nor was it made easily by the school board. The board understands the budget limitations of families in our community and how the cost of living continues to rise. The district and the board chose a rate that we felt would generate the minimum funds needed to maintain the school district’s current level of operations, while having the least amount of impact on our citizens. Currently, the State of Washington provides 80%, the federal government 8%, and our existing levy the remaining 12% of our school district budget.

With the passage of the levy, the school will be able to continue funding extracurricular activities, a needed share of our teaching and support staff salaries, maintenance and supplies, special education, vocational and extended learning programs. Should the levy fail, the school district would have to make significant cuts to its staff, educational programs, and to all extracurricular activities.

As a board, we are extremely proud of the direction our district is going. We have a great leadership team and an amazing staff of caring, committed and compassionate employees. Every day we are making progress and making things better for the students in our district. The passage of this levy will allow us to continue our successful momentum. Please remember to vote by Feb. 13. We appreciate your support!

Thank you!

RAYMOND SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jason McVey, Pebbles Williams, Rebecca Chaffee, Ryan Tully and Ravenel Staricka