By Luisa Loi
La Conner Community News
Voters living in the La Conner School District will decide whether to pass a levy that school officials say would spare students and staff from the distraction of cold classrooms and wheezing laptops.
The levy, which is on the General Election ballot, would collect a total of $1.49 million in four years to make necessary upgrades to facilities and technology while districts across Washington keep grappling with shrinking budgets and trickling state support. The estimated rates per $1,000 of assessed property value would be $0.307 in 2027, $0.308 in 2028, $0.308 in 2029 and $0.308 in 2030.
The last levy for technological upgrades was collected in 2016, according to Superintendent Dave Cram. Since then, the district has relied on grants and other sources of funding, including contributions from the Swinomish Tribe, to stay afloat, “but that isn’t enough to keep us ahead,” said Director of Teaching & Learning Beth Clothier.
Most of the laptops used by staff and students are 10 years old or older, making them unable to run state-required testing materials and necessary operating systems, and often so slow that they result in significant time being lost and classes skipping activities that require access to a computer, she said.
“If the levy were to not pass, and we don’t have funds to purchase laptops to keep us at this baseline, I feel that learning will be impacted,” Clothier said.
The revenue would also support the district’s security systems, phones, connectivity and communication platforms, as well as construction and remodeling projects.
Because the HVAC system in some of the facilities is over 20 years old, students in one classroom may be wearing jackets while their peers next door are warm, Clothier said.
“Those are things that are disruptive… If you’re in a classroom that’s too cold to concentrate, that’s hard.”
Without prevention, a leaking roof may be a distraction too, she said.
The elementary school’s roof is in such poor condition that the district couldn’t move forward with the installation of solar panels and is estimated to have “a year or two left,” Cram said.
With the extra revenue, the district would also be able to pursue grants that require matching dollars. About three years ago, he recalled, La Conner was awarded a state grant to redo the fluorescent lighting in one of the buildings, but because the district did not have the money for the match, it had to turn down the opportunity.
While many districts across Washington have been pleading with lawmakers to increase funding for materials, supplies and operating costs that are necessary to run school buildings, La Conner has also been dealing with a six-year decline in student enrollment, which state allocations are based on. According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, “the amount provided continues to fall short of the true cost.”
Five years ago, the district paid a little over $90,000 annually for its insurance premium, Cram said. In the 2026-27 school year, the price rose to $315,000.
Faced with rising costs, Cram anticipates that if the levy fails the district will have to seek alternative funding sources and make cuts to salaries and benefits, which represent approximately 87% of the budget. That will mean larger class sizes and impacts to the quality of education.
“We know that levies are something that is gonna cost people,” he said. “We appreciate the sacrifices that families have to make, and we’re trying to be extremely smart about the use of these funds.”
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
Top photo by Nancy K. Crowell/La Conner Community News
