Seattle Public Schools

Levies 2010

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is committed to ensuring an excellent education for every student. Our five-year strategic plan, Excellence for All, sets out our plan to raise achievement for all students, retain and attract great teachers, and increase efficiency. To help realize our goals, students, teachers and community members rely on Seattle voter support of SPS levies for both operations and capital projects.

• Operations Levies support core SPS programs by providing nearly 25 percent of the funds for the District's day-to-day operating expenses. These funds help pay for instructional programs, student activities, staff salaries, bilingual and special education services, student transportation, and security and maintenance.
• Capital Levies provide the funds to renew and replace aging buildings with modern and efficient facilities. In addition, capital levy and bond funds are used for improvements in athletic fields, classrooms, technology and mechanical equipment.

Seattle Public Schools places levies on the ballot every three years. This creates a planned and predictable cycle for voters to consider funding for education in Seattle.

Planning for Levies 2010

Seattle Public Schools staff and School Board members, with input from schools and the community, have been working since October 2008 to prepare two school levies for the February 9, 2010, special election ballot. Both are renewals of expiring levies that were approved by voters in previous years.

The three-year Operations Levy is a replacement for the previous operations levy that was passed by Seattle voters in 2007.

This six-year Capital Projects Levy, titled Buildings, Technology and Academics III (BTA III), is part of the District's long-range plan to upgrade and renovate aging school facilities on a planned and predictable timetable. BTA III replaces the expiring BTA II levy, which was passed by Seattle voters in 2004.

Timeline for Levies 2010

October 2008 to fall 2009	School and community input
November 2008 to April 2009	Facilities analysis by MENG Associates
November 2008 to May 2009	Develop potential project needs
May 5, 7, 9, 2009	Community informational meetings
July 1, 2009	School Board adopts Levies 2010 Guidance and Principles
August 20, 2009	Operations Committee/BTA III Web site launched
September 2, 2009	School Board work session presentation
September 22, 24, 28, 2009	Community meetings
November 4, 2009	Levy resolutions introduced to School Board
November 8, 2009	Public hearing on Levies 2010
November 18, 2009	Levy resolutions vote by School Board
February 9, 2010	Operations and BTA III Levy special election

Current Capital Levies

Capital levies and bonds alternate on a three-year schedule between Buildings, Technology and Academics (BTA), which primarily funds small renovations and major maintenance projects spread throughout the District, and Building Excellence (BEX), which pays for new construction, major renovations and additions.

Buildings, Technology and Academics III (BTA III)
Planning is under way for BTA III. Hundreds of improvement projects will be included throughout the District:
• Buildings: roofs, exterior renovations, interior finishes, ADA/life safety, mechanical systems, electrical systems, site/playgrounds, seismic upgrades, waterlines, unreinforced masonry (URM), and green buildings upgrades.
• Technology: data management, school services, technology infrastructure, classroom services, IT infrastructure, business operations and data management.
• Academics/athletics: early learning classrooms, CORE 24 computer/Science rooms, special education therapy spaces, computer labs, textual materials adoption, athletic field replacement, program placement needs, elementary school lunch rooms, conversion of TVs from analog to digital, skills center, STEM school, educational technology tools and technology licenses for assessing students? academic growth.

Buildings, Technology and Academics II (BTA II)
More than 600 projects at every school in the District were funded under BTA II, which was approved by voters in 2004 to replace the first Buildings, Technology and Athletics levy (BTA I), approved in 1997.

• Fall 2009 - A Report to the Community: Your Tax Dollars at Work
• Fall 2006 - A Report to the Community: How your tax dollars were spent

Building Excellence III (BEX III)
More than a third of the 100 buildings in the Seattle School District's current inventory are more than 50 years old. Seattle voters approved BEX I in 1995 and BEX II in 2001. Together, these levies replaced or renovated 35 schools. Seattle voters approved the current construction program, BEX III, in 2007, which is replacing or renovating an additional six schools.
• BEX I, BEX II and BEX III project information
• February 6, 2007: BEX III Bond and Levy Information
• Fall 2006 - A Report to the Community: How your tax dollars were spent

Last Updated:
Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:46 PM