It was the best of times in Chehalis, it was the worst of times in Centralia.
With apologies to Charles Dickens, one could write a novel about Lewis County's largest school districts this week.
On Monday, I had the honor of joining a large group of students and community members in Chehalis to hear the remarkable life story and thoughtful insights of Barbara Feigin, a childhood war refugee from Nazi Germany who grew up in Chehalis, attended the then-new W.F. West High School and went on to have a groundbreaking career in advertising.
My daughter and her friends are reading Feigin’s autobiography, “My American Dream,” in their English class.
Feigin, like many other Chehalis alumni, is a generous and consistent donor to the school district’s scholarship funds. Drawing on a deep affection for her hometown and thoughtful ongoing relationships with current civic leaders, she is engaged and devoted to keeping her alma mater strong. She spoke about this in the talk sponsored by the vibrant Chehalis Foundation, which provided free espresso drinks or smoothies and cookies to all attendees.
A day later, voters in the Centralia School District again voted down a replacement maintenance and operations levy. (As of Friday the measure was losing by 80 votes — probably too many to overcome in ongoing ballot counting, but supporters have their fingers crossed.)
For the second time in recent years, this is a double levy failure that will cause the school district to look at deep, painful cuts to operations.
The school board wasn’t asking for a new tax, but due to fast-rising home property valuations, the renewed $1.50 in tax collections per $1,000 in assessed valuations would mean an increase in overall tax collections by the district and thus higher tax bills for property owners.
Parents and supporters of the school district are devastated by the news. I saw some of them accusing voters of not caring about kids.
Taxpayers, however, have their reasons. Why would a community that has voted for levies in the past change their minds? It’s a question that supporters need to ask and listen closely to the answers.
With skyrocketing property valuations, some Centralians obviously voted with their pocketbooks. Others perhaps are unhappy with state mandates on controversial subject matter topics that force issues of gender theory and race into classrooms.
Our representative democracy gives voters relatively few opportunities to directly weigh in on taxes.
Voting no on a school levy is a blunt weapon that delivers a lot of collateral damage to students, but for unhappy voters, it is one of the few tools they have to send a message.
The impacts for Centralia of this double levy failure will be felt for years.
The outreach to voters to reverse the “no” vote next year will surely ramp up. I hope the district continues to listen to the many reasons why people voted no. I hope supporters of schools, rather than blaming voters for being greedy or uncaring, will make connections to no-voters and find ways to show they understand and take seriously whatever their big-picture concerns might be.
The voters have the final say. Listen to them. Because they hold the purse strings — even if they’re wrong, they’re right.
It’s not fair that people facing skyrocketing tax valuations or angry about national cultural issues relieve that pressure by turning down a school tax measure, but it’s reality. It’s time for supporters of Centralia students to individually reach out to “no” voters and spend some serious time listening.
That brings us back to Chehalis, where the Chehalis Foundation has done a remarkable job of staying connected to alumni — both those who have achieved great financial success and those of more modest means — and giving them a chance to give back to their old hometown.
“Of course,” you might say, “not every town is lucky enough to have a former Starbucks executive as a deep-pocket alumnus, like Chehalis had with Orin Smith.”
Fair enough. Chehalis is blessed in that regard, but they also thoughtfully cultivate those relationships. I could tell that Ms. Feigin was deeply moved to be received so warmly in her old hometown.
It’s easier to do that one-on-one, but the hard truth is, Centralia needs to continue the hard but necessary work of reaching out to their citizens to make that same kind of connection.
If people feel like their schools are raising up the neighbor kids right, that as taxpayers they are getting societal value out of what they’re paying, they’ll gladly reach deep into their pockets.
If they feel alienated, if they feel that local schools — even if it’s because they’re forced to by state mandates — are teaching kids in ways that aren’t for the best, they’ll push back with whatever instrument they have. In this case a “no” on the M&O levy.
It’s important to remember that the people who sustain a school district, whether with their tax dollars or their donations to scholarship funds, will sacrifice almost anything to say yes again and again to a school they love.
Sometimes that kind of devotion takes some wooing on behalf of schools and their supporters. Because if voters and alumni don’t feel the love, their affections will cool and their “yes” vote of old will turn to a cold, hard “no.”
Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
