The “Yes for Griffin Kids” Committee is urging homeowners within the Griffin School District to vote in favor of the Technology & Capital Projects Levy. The levy appears on this month’s General Election ballot as Proposition 1.
The “Yes for Griffin Kids” Committee and the Griffin School District have this month released two publications which describe the levy. Click here to download a PDF copy of these two documents.
What follows is some of the information sent to us from the school district and Yes for Griffin Kids.
What Is the Bottom Line?
- Griffin School has never before needed a special levy and has previously been able to support programs from the Maintenance & Operations Levy.
- This special levy passage equals an estimated tax increase of $0.345 per $1000 assessed valuation.
- Griffin’s current estimated tax rate is $2.40 per $1000. Passage of the special levy will bring the new tax rate to approximately $2.75 per $1000.
- Griffin School District continues to have the lowest tax rate in the area. For example, the Shelton School District’s 2008 estimated rate is $4.82 per $1000. Tumwater SD’s estimated rate for 2008 is $4.16 per $1000.
- Ultimately, without these funds, Griffin faces consolidation into the Olympia School District.
Griffin School District recently implemented $400,000 worth of cuts. Among other cost-saving steps, the school facilities are also scheduled to be closed twenty additional days per calendar year, instead of being open to the community as it in the past.
The potential impacts of not passing this proposed levy are both financial and academic. If this levy is not passed and Griffin is absorbed into the Olympia School District, our tax rate will be an estimated $4.54 per $1000 (estimated 2008 OSD rate). Although Griffin has the lowest local tax rate, it holds the highest level of meeting national standards in the county.
Click here to read the materials regarding the levy distributed by the school district and the “Yes for Griffin Kids” Committee.
I hope property owners will vote in favor of Proposition 1. Our Griffin School District is making the tough choices necessary to operate – and continue providing a high-quality educational experience – and this levy is carefully crafted to meet a well-defined need. The amount requested in the levy is not excessive.
The “Yes for Griffin Kids” Committee was created by local members of the community to support the school district in its efforts to secure appropriate funding for its programs. For more information and to join the “Yes for Griffin Kids” Committee, call Rhonda Fry at (360) 432-2337.
UPDATED: The Olympian ran an article, on October 25th, which describes the levy. Click here to read that article, which provides a good summary of the levy. In the article, Superintendent Don Brannam is interviewed:
Brannam said if Griffin voters decide against the levy, those costs would start to eat into the district’s general fund and affect the kindergarten through eighth grade school — and possibly the district’s independence of Olympia or other surrounding districts.
“I could see us being in serious trouble in three to five years,” Brannam said. “The dialogue in this district is going to be pretty interesting around our own ability to pay our bills and maintain the sovereignty of our school district.”