Tuesday was a good day for Spokane County school districts. All of the levies and both bond issues on the special election ballot are winning after the first ballot count.
In Spokane, more than 72% of voters said yes to the district's three-year levy. A simple majority is needed to approve the measure.
Voters in the Central Valley District appear to have approved both a levy and a bond issue. Both measures in the CV district received about 70% support. It’s the district’s second consecutive successful bond issue after several misses.
Superintendent Ben Small believes his district is reaping the rewards of a long campaign to regain the voters’ confidence.
“We feel that we’ve managed this money, our money that our taxpayers have given to us, in a way that builds trust. And I think that our taxpayers can now look at us and say there’s a track record of the Central Valley School District delivering on its promise, and then some, and more than that," Small said.
CV not only built the schools it promised with the bond issue that is now expiring, it is also building an additional elementary school and rebuilding North Pines Middle School.
Mead's levy also received about 70% support; its bond issue earned 66%. The bond issues need 60% support and there's a voter validation requirement, which Mead Superintendent Tom Rockefeller says has been met.
Several districts placed two levies on the ballot, one for maintenance and operations, the second for improvements in various areas.
The Nine Mile Falls, Medical Lake, Freeman, Liberty, West Valley and Riverside districts all have two levies winning after the initial count. Cheney, Deer Park and Great Northern voters appear to have approved maintenance levies.
Another round of ballots will be counted Wednesday afternoon. The election will be certified a week from Friday.
