Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Just two days after initial results from the Nov. 4 Thurston County general election showed an uphill battle at passing the Yelm Community Schools levy attempt, Chris Woods, YCS superintendent, and several school board directors weighed in on what’s next for the district following a fourth consecutive levy failure.
As of Monday, Nov. 11, 52.63% of voters, or 4,598 people, in Thurston County and Pierce County elected to oppose the district’s levy measure, while 47.37% of voters, or 4,138 people, voted in support of passing the levy.
During the YCS Board of Directors study session on Thursday, Nov. 6, Woods led a discussion towards the end of the meeting regarding the results of the fourth levy attempt. With the data showing a fourth consecutive failure was likely, Woods admitted that the district is going to be faced with “some very challenging decisions to make moving forward.”
“This is unprecedented. We will have no levy dollars for 2025 and 2026, so two calendar years,” Woods said. “We are going to have to do
things very different. Two hundred-ninety three districts across the state are going to be watching this. A lot of districts are scared because if we do this well, and we will, they’re scared their communities might think twice about passing levies.”
Despite the lack of levy dollars, Woods remained optimistic about the work ahead and reiterated his commitment to YCS and finding a solution to the ongoing financial situation district-wide.
“As I’ve told my team, I am committed. Many would say ‘why don’t you move on?’ but I’m not gonna. Our kids deserve it,” Woods said. “We’re going to make it work because we have to, and because our kids deserve it. Our communities made a decision for whatever reason, but we’ve got a job to do and that is to preserve and provide the best education we can for our students with the resources we have available.
“We’re going to do it. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be very hard,” Woods continued. “My hope is that our community steps up and helps us fill some of the voids that are going to be there, because there are going to be some big ones. We’re going to have to come together.”
Denise Hendrickson, current YCS school board president and active director since December of 1998, said that she’s hopeful to see the community come together in an effort to make things work for the schools and kids, rather than arguing amongst one another.
“United we stand, divided we fall. Lets knock the crap off. Quit the fighting and stand together for our kids. If we don’t pass the levy, we don’t pass the levy. So what we have, we have, and lets use it to the best of our ability. Knock the crap off. I’m sick of it,” Hendrickson said during the study session meeting. “We’ve always had a community. Where did they go? We used to have a community. It’s time that you guys come together.”
Woods said that YCS will continue to remain open and honest with the community about its ongoing financial situation, but noted the district constantly gets criticized for “not being transparent.”
“During levy number three, we did a community forum at every single school plus every service organization in our community and some others. The people who showed up were the yes votes,” Woods said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. I appreciate each of you, signing up for it, and my team. I’ve got a great team here that continues to show up every day.”
