Two Days to Decide the Money in King County — Education Across the States

Washington ballots are due in two days, and in King County two school money decisions are sitting on the same ballot with two different rules. Ballots must be in an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, or postmarked by Election Day — no stamp is needed. As today’s Washington Education Daily explains, reading a bond and a levy as the same kind of vote is the first mistake to avoid: a bond builds buildings, and a levy pays for running things.

In Highline Public Schools, south of Seattle, Proposition 1 is a school construction bond of $595.4 million. It would replace four deteriorating schools — Cascade, Chinook, and Sylvester middle schools and the CHOICE Academy — and pay for districtwide health, security, fire system, and earthquake safety upgrades, with buildings rebuilt for improved safety, accessibility, and current instruction. Proposition 2 is a four-year educational technology levy of $48 million, resuming local funding for the technology systems used for instruction, communication, cybersecurity, school operations, and student services.

The district projects the combined cost plainly. If both measures pass, the total local school tax rate rises from $4.47 to $4.89 per $1,000 of assessed property value — on a home assessed at $500,000, an increase of $210 a year, or $17.50 a month. But the two measures do not face the same bar: under Washington law a school bond needs 60 percent approval, while a levy needs a simple majority, 50 percent plus one. Highline could pass one and fail the other, and each outcome would mean something different on Wednesday morning.

In Kent, one of the state’s largest districts at about 25,000 students, Proposition 1 is a replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy. Replacement is the key word: the current voter-approved levy expires in December 2027, and this measure would replace it, collecting $104.7 million in 2028, $111.1 million in 2029, $115.7 million in 2030, and $121.4 million in 2031 — about $453 million over four years, at an estimated rate starting at $1.95 per $1,000 of assessed value and stepping down to $1.84. The district’s resolution describes programs and operations the state does not fully fund, and local voters supply roughly 15 percent of Kent’s general operating budget. The Kent City Council adopted a resolution backing the measure on October 7.

Takeaway: A failed replacement levy does not leave funding flat — the money goes away when the current levy expires, and a district cannot spend revenue voters have not approved in the meantime. Before Tuesday, separate the two questions on your ballot: what builds buildings, what pays for operations, and what approval bar each one has to clear.

Sources: Highline Public Schools and Kent School District measure and levy information, including the Kent district resolution and projected collection amounts and tax rates — all as covered in today’s episode, which publishes its sources in its episode description.