Levies

The pandemic is a serious, worldwide event not related to our local levies. If approved, these replacement levies will take effect in 2022, and we anticipate we will have resumed the activities our students have missed during this school year.

Sadly, no. There are four main reasons why the McCleary decision missed the mark to create a sustainable, equitable funding model:

1. Special Education is still not fully funded. Here in Camas, 16% of our levy dollars are used to fill the gap between State funding and our actual costs. 
2. The Legislature added regionalization factors on top of the state’s base salary allocations to districts in which median home values are higher than the statewide median. In Camas, we get a 12 percent factor, which is helpful, however, that factor is dropping to 11 percent this year, 10 percent for 2021-22, and nine percent for 2022-23 per the state. To date, we have not received an answer as to why this reduction is occurring. 
3. The revised teacher salary allotment from the state is a one-size-fits-all formula. Under the previous funding structure, districts received additional money to pay salaries for teachers with more experience and education. Post McCleary, the new “Prototypical School Funding Model” allocates funding to districts at an average. This means districts with highly educated, senior staff are under-funded. Last year, 56 districts of Washington’s 294 districts, were granted a 4 percent experience factor increase–we were not among them.  (Source: Washington Research Council).
4. The number of staff allocated in the Prototypical School Funding Model does not reflect how schools are staffed today. For example, we are funded for 1.175 nurses/health assistants for our entire district, and we staff 9.57 to ensure the safety and health of our students. 

When taxpayers get their tax statement this year, they will see a drop in local school tax rates. In 2020, Camas residents all paid $5.56/$1,000 of our assessed valuation (AV), and in 2021, it is projected to be $4.77. If voters approve both levies, tax rates are projected to stay the same: $4.77/$1,000 AV. 

Regarding how much money we get, per-pupil spending is a more accurate indicator since districts with higher poverty qualify for more funding in general.  

Per Pupil Spending (Source: OSPI)

• Washougal:  $14,285
• Evergreen:  $13,849
• Vancouver:  $13,747
• Battle Ground:  $13,236
• Camas:  $12,842

The Camas community has supported schools through local levies for more than 40 years. Initially, levies provided money for things that cannot be funded by State, or basic education, dollars like extra-curricular activities. Over time, state funding did not keep pace with actual costs, and lawmakers pushed the burden on local communities to fill the gap with levy dollars. 

Our levies make up about 20% of our budget.  If we were to align our budget to State and Federal funding, we would not be able to continue extra-curricular activities. Classroom sizes, breakfast and lunch prices, and the length of time students spend on the bus would all increase. Additionally, many employees would lose their jobs. The amount of money we would have to maintain or replace computers, roofs, and HVAC systems would be almost non-existent. 

Most of our parents cite Camas Schools as the reason they moved to Camas. It is our community support that makes our schools strong and vibrant.

Yes. We were awarded $333K in CARES Act – COVID stimulus funding. As of January 2021, we have COVID expenditures of $683,812.

Yes, the school board would likely bring the replacement levies back to voters in April so that, in the event of a second failure, we could meet the deadline of notifying staff of layoffs by May 15 for teachers and June 1 for classified staff. We are only allowed to put our levies to a vote twice in a calendar year, so the next earliest attempt would be February 2022.