Larry Roe and Dick Rylander believe you should vote ‘No’ and demand the district answer some questions before approving any new funds

Larry Roe & Dick Rylander 
for Clark County Today

The Vancouver School District is asking taxpayers and voters to approve a new levy. Approval would be a 6-year levy (the longest allowed and two times in length of the last) that will collect over $83.36 million. This is for tech and capital operations. (Question: why do they need capital operations money at all given the massive bond in 2017 that you are still paying for in taxes through 2037?) https://www.google.com/url?q=https://vansd.org/in-the-construction-zone-28-schools-on-track-for-bond-work/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1736789786995109&usg=AOvVaw20dOAISfRZDXNenxsJhijE  

You should vote “No” and demand the district answer some questions before approving any new funds.   

Take a look at the last levy for background: https://swweducation.org/vancouver-school-district-new-levy-feb-2020/   

Before you make a decision please consider some facts. 

(1) The number of employees for Vancouver Public Schools (VPS) has grown substantially, even though student enrollment has dropped. The Columbia River Economic Council reported that VPS (Vancouver Public Schools) is the second largest Clark County employer in 2024 with 3300 employees (Columbian A3,A7, 12/3/2024). This is a significant rise from a decade earlier (2,225 employees in 2014). In comparison, Evergreen Public Schools (EPS) increased from 2,455 employees in 2014 to 2,599 employees in 2024. To put this in context, we need to compare to the enrollment data from OSPI: 

                        Enrollment               Staffing

2014 VPS      23,065                       2,225

2024 VPS      22,014                       3,300

Change         <1, 050>                   +1,075 (+48.3%)

By comparison the Evergreen SD’s numbers:

2014 EPS      26,338                       2,455

2024 EPS      22,113                       2,599

Change          <4,225>                  +  144 (+5.8%)

(2) The population of Clark County rose from 452,000 to 521,000 between 2014 and 2024 (U.S. Census) = 15% increase.

(3) The enrollment in VPS peaked in the 2017-2018 school year (per OSPI). Notably, 2017-18 was the first year of significantly higher property taxes based on implementation of the McCleary decision.

(4) The birth rate for Clark County has been constant over this time period at about 5,500 per year (Clark County Public Health). The remainder of the youth who enroll in our schools are from net migration into our county (of families with school-age children). Birth data suggests the VanSD would have about 1500 births per year. Enrollment data doesn’t correlate with population changes.

(5) The Capital Projects Fund (the fund that the February 2025 levy will extend) collected $8.5 million during the 2023-2024 school year. At the end of the 23-24 school year, $8.8 million was transferred from this fund to the District’s General Fund (VPS Board Meeting: 12/10/2024 (Financials)). So they are moving money out of the tech levy and into operations to balance the books?

(6) As it is currently being used, this levy is indistinguishable from the operations levy. As proposed, these two funds will equal $2.37 per $1,000 of assessed value. This is significantly higher than the $1.50 that the Legislature proposed in 2017 (and implemented in January 2019).  Do higher property tax rates  have a negative effect on migration of families with school-aged children? In 2019, the Legislature agreed to raise the levy limit to $2.50/$1,000 based on lobbying from groups that wanted funds to pursue their programs in addition to the charter to provide a basic education to all students.

Note: The net effect of the “levy swap” was that the teachers unions lobbied school boards that this was not a “swap” but rather it was new revenue which should go to teachers. This led to school boards (working with their lobby group the WSSDA) generating large compensation increases. Subsequently the legislature raised the levy cap to $2.50/$1000. The net effect was an increase in property taxes in the $.90 to $1.00 increase in property taxes. The “swap” became a massive tax increase with no benefit to students.

(7) The priorities for the district are shown in their deviations from the 2023-2024 General Fund Budget (VPS 12/10/24 Board Meeting: Financials)

                                              Budget (million $)     Actual (million $)    Variance (million $)

Regular Instruction                         220.0                         209.5                          -10.5

Special Education                           67.7                            69.7                                2.0

Compensatory Education             34.6                            29.7                               -4.9

Support Services                            78.7                            84.9                                6.2

(8) It would be worthwhile to ask whether or not the paramount duty of the state (to provide a basic educational opportunity to the K-12 students in the State [WA Supreme Court, McCleary 2012]) is being sacrificed to fund other priorities.

            It is worth noting that during the Covid (pandemic lockdowns) time the Vancouver SD received over $64.5mm in ESSER federal funds. That was on top of what they collected in levy funds. That works out to $3,361 per student in extra funding.    https://swweducation.org/esser-fund-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief-fund-southwest-washington/  Did this contribute to over staffing?

The VPS District is counting on future additional State or Federal funds to solve these variances along with this new Capital and Tech levy. Given the forecast budget deficit for the State and the current Federal communications on educational plans, it seems more likely that the taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill via this levy. 

The VanSD has created a problem that they want the public to pay for. The only way to determine how much they really need is to do a complete audit of the district. Find out what facilities are empty or underutilized and could be sold or used to generate revenue. Determine what the reduction in personnel should be.  

They will scream and yell that failure to pay the bill for their mistakes harms the children. The truth is that to help the children the taxpayers and voters must demand accountability. Assuming the potential staffing oversupply is 1,075, and, assuming the fully loaded (salary, bonuses, medical, retirement, training, etc.) is $90,000 that works out to $96,750,000 in potential cost savings…which is more than the $83 million the new levy collects..  

Solution: Vote “No” and offer to approve a 2-year levy with the promise that they will conduct an (performance) audit and answer these questions. This will give them short term funding so voters and taxpayers can make informed decisions.  

What are the performance results from state/federal mandated achievement tests? Generally speaking, there was a huge decline in reading & comprehension and math. Let’s look at 2014-15 and 2023-24.  

Here are the test results for the VanSD over a 10-year period of time (during which funding has doubled): 

What does this table show? While spend per child has doubled in the 10 years the testing performance has continued to decline. Testing performance has fallen while funding has increased. Where is the improvement for the expense? 

The median home price in the VSD (latest data) is $550,000. What does that property owner pay (will pay) just for schools? 

Note: As property values increase the rate drops but the money collected stays the same. 

Here’s a Vancouver property with an assessed value of $260K. Using the median price of $550,000 the numbers in the table below would be multiplied by 2.11. 

Look at the 2014 to 2024 property taxes paid “history”.  It appears they have gone up by 254.8%.  

Conclusions: 

1. Taxes have risen dramatically and if this new levy is approved they will rise even more. 
2. It appears the district is significantly overstaffed. 
3. Test scores have continued to decline even though spending has risen dramatically. 
4. The student population continues to decline with no recovery seen. 
5. The district is asking you to bail them out of the financial consequences of their decisions. 
6. The State of Washington is proposing massive tax increases. 
7. Inflation, over the last 4 years, hit a 40 year high. 

It’s time to say “No.’’ Demand that leadership be held accountable.