An in-depth look at the levy request put before voters by Woodland Public Schools

Editor’s note: Former Clark County Councilor and long-time Clark County resident Dick Rylander conducts a great deal of research on public education in the area, region and state and shares his findings on his blog, swweducation.org. Rylander recently compiled in-depth analysis on the levy requests on the Feb. 14 special election ballot from the Vancouver, Washougal and Woodland school districts. Here is the information he has gathered on the Woodland Public Schools Levy.

Woodland School District spans Clark and Cowlitz Counties. The information provided in this article appears in the voter pamphlets for both counties. We’ll provide you links to the details from the Elections Department as well as the school district. As always it’s your choice whether to vote yes or not but whatever you do please vote.

Here is the link to the Woodland School District website and the information they provide regarding the levy: https://www.woodlandschools.org/page/7341?cat=team 

Here is a link to the voters pamphlet at the Elections Department: https://clark.wa.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/2022-12/Woodland%20School%20District%20No.%20404%20-%20Proposition%20No.%201%20-%20Replacement%20School%20Support%20Levy%20for%20Educational%20Programs%20and%20Operations.pdf 

Overview

Pro and Rebuttal

Con and Rebuttal

Discussion

• The district is asking for just under a 9% increase in the amount of the new levy vs. the expiring levy
• As notes test scores are down across the board
• Student population continues to drop
• Over 52% of property taxes currently go to schools
• The bottom line? What can you afford and what are you getting for more and more money?

Other data and information sources:

• https://schooldataproject.com/report_levies_20230214

• https://schooldataproject.com/reports.html

• https://swweducation.org/category/woodlandsd/