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Monte levy seeks max tax allowed
The Montesano school board is asking voters to approve a replacement levy to raise roughly $2 million in both 2011 and 2012 — the maximum allowed by state law. That translates to $2.92 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2011 and $2.87 in 2012 or about $526 a year for the owner of the typical $180,000 Montesano home.

The current levy is $2.55 per $1,000 and will be $2.58 per $1,000 in 2010 — $459 and $464 for that $180,000 home, respectively. Hold on, the total education cost is actually higher than that. Bonds for the construction of the high school, Simpson School, Beacon Elementary remodeling and a new roof on the high school total $2.26 per $1,000 currently. Next year the bond to build the high school will be paid off, dropping the 2010 bond rate to $1.69 per $1,000 and $1.61 in 2011.

That means the total bill for school taxes drops from $4.81 this year — $866 for that average home — to $4.53 in 2011, about $815 for the average homeowner if the replacement M&O levy is approved.
If voters approve a transportation levy, add another 14 cents per $1,000 assessed value, still less in taxes than people now pay — assuming the property remains at the same value. An increase in the assessed value would raise the overall taxes an individual property owner would pay, but that’s calculated separately from the tax rate.

“Because of the high school dropping off, that makes it sellable,” newly sworn-in board member Caleb Backholm said at his first meeting Dec. 17. “If it wasn’t for the high school dropping off, I don’t know that I’d support the amount,” he said.

Elma levy on ballot
ELMA — Faced with financial troubles due to deep state cuts and declining enrollment, the Elma School Board passed a resolution Dec. 16 to run a levy early next year.

The vote of the five-member board was unanimous, including the newest member, Teresa Boling, who ran unopposed in November’s general election for the District 5 seat after Dan Warren chose not to seek re-election.

The two-year maintenance and operations levy on the Feb. 9 special election ballot, which would replace the current expiring levy, would help provide for “pretty much the same things we’ve been doing in the past, FFA, extracurricular, repairs and maintenance, text adoption and other items,” said the school district’s superintendent, Howard King.

However, if the levy is successful, it will also help support all-day kindergarten, King noted, which it hasn’t in the past. “We really want to strengthen our commitment to early childhood education,” he said Monday.

If it passes, the levy would amount to about $2.89 per $1,000 of assessed property value to be collected in both 2011 and 2012, projected to raise about $2,924,000 the first year and about $1,000 more the second.

The amount of the current levy, which will expire at the end of next year, is $2.28 per $1,000, said the district’s business manager, Lisa Arnold.

McCleary school seeks levy, too
McCLEARY — The McCleary School District is one of four in East Grays Harbor County that will be asking voters to approve levies in a special election Feb 9.
Montesano, McCleary and Oakville will also run levies; Satsop ran a levy last year.
McCleary School Board members passed a resolution at their Dec. 17 meeting after Superintendent Dan Bolender talked about more possibly deep state cuts to education in 2010. Lonnie Zeller, Troy Collie and Heather Williams voted for the levy; Dean Schwickerath voted against. Basing his figures on maintenance and operations levies as presented in the 2008 Secretary of State Voter Guide, “I voted no on our levy because the rate is too low in comparison to communities around us,” Schwickerath said Tuesday. As elected officials, “how can our McCleary School Board not provide the best possible education for our children? Our children deserve no less than children in Elma, Montesano or Aberdeen, yet our levy rate is the lowest, and while others are increasing their levies to improve school programs for their children, we shy away from this responsibility.

“In McCleary, we can’t claim it is the economy that keeps our levy rate low if families in Elma, Montesano and Aberdeen are bearing this financial burden no better or worse than us,” Schwickerath said. “If children are indeed our most valuable asset, then we need to step up and support them. Add to this the likelihood that next year, all schools in our state could see a large decrease in state funding, our levy rate becomes even more important to just keeping what we have today.”

If the new levy passes, it would assess about $2.93 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation to be collected in 2011, projected to raise about $512,000. The rate for collection in 2012 would be about $3 per $1,000 of valuation, expected to raise about $525,000.

Under the current levy, which expires at the end of 2010, property owners will be paying the same rate next year as in 2011, about $2.93 per $1,000.

Contract mediation in Elma
ELMA — The school district and the secretaries’ union are headed to mediation to resolve a dispute over reduced hours.

The Elma Classified Office Personnel Association has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the Public Employment Relations Commission and 10 personal grievances against the district for unilaterally reducing the hours of work, pay and benefits of 10 school secretaries represented by the union.

“Elma COPA members are responsible for carrying a disproportionate amount of the cuts in school budgets the district faces … If that wasn’t enough, the District imposed the cuts while negotiations with them were underway,” said Julie Zwarun, union president.

The secretaries’ contract expired at the end of August 2009. Zwarun addressed the board Sept. 9, requesting it wait to make a decision until alternatives could be negotiated. On Sept. 17, the school board approved reducing the time each of the 10 full-time secretaries work from eight to 7.5 hours per day.

The decision wasn’t bargained with the union, which ought to have been done according to the prior agreement and state law, Zwarun said.

“The District position is we’ve had to make cuts across the board the last two years,” Superintendent Howard King said. “The last to be cut was the secretaries … We decided instead of laying people off to cut salaries.”

Other bargaining units saw lay-offs and other reductions in recent years that the secretaries didn’t have to face, he said.
“There was ample time for them to be involved” in proposing alternatives prior to the board’s decision to impose the reduced hours, King said.

The secretaries’ union was willing to do its fair share of cuts and offered to accept the same one-day reduction that teachers, administrators and most classified staff had taken, Zwarun said. Instead, they were told to take what amounts upwards of a 15-day reduction in pay, about $2,000 for each secretary — compared to what the $458 one-day reduction means to King, she said.

“It’s a significant reduction for us,” Zwarun said. “It’s a hardship for these ladies … If it was done properly and legally, we would have no issue.”

More Sports

Toledo runs past Montesano girls, 66-43
MONTESANO — Toledo came out of the blocks quickly and used a first quarter run to provide the breathing room during a 66-43 1A Evergreen League girls basketball victory Friday, Dec. 18, at Bo Griffith Memorial Gymnasium.

Things began well for Monte as the Rydman sisters staked the Bulldogs to an early lead. Brooke Rydman kicked off the game with a three-point play, when sandwiched around a Toledo bucket with Erica Rydman’s lay-in gave Monte a 5-2 lead. Another B. Rydman score followed, and then the Bulldogs went cold from the floor as the Indians heated up.

Slow third period sinks Bulldog boys
ith Toledo through halftime, Montesano was close. But a 20-10 Indian run over the third quarter left the Bulldogs out of reach, and they dropped a 1A Evergreen League boys basketball matchup 66-57 Friday, Dec. 18, at Bo Griffith Memorial Gymnasium.

After one period, Monte trailed 12-11. At halftime the Dogs were down three at 29-26. However, Toledo doubling-up Monte 20-10 during the third stanza, put the Indians in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game.

Toledo’s David Wallace paced all scorers with 15 points. Monte’s Kale Trimble and Josh Tyler had 14 points each for the Bulldogs, with senior Jack Aldrich knocking down 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

With the loss, Montesano falls to 0-2 in league play and 2-3 overall for the season.