M&O levy
About the Measure
This is a proposed three-year property tax levy.
Voters in District 81 are being asked to approve an excess levy of $4.46 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which would raise an estimated $217.5 million annually for maintenance and operations beginning in 2013 to supplement the district’s state funding.
The school district’s current levy of $3.94 per $1,000 of assessed property value is expiring.
If approved by voters, the owner of a $150,000 home, for example would pay $669 per year.
A copy of the Spokane School Board’s resolution authorizing this levy request can be found here.
Information about the levy compiled by District 81 can be found here.
Complete Coverage
Superintendents of Spokane Public Schools through the years
• June 1888-Feb. 1889 Bruce Wolverton • Feb. 1889-June 1889 E.C. Houston • July 1889-June 1899 David Bemiss • July 1899-June 1903 J.F. Saylor • July 1903-June 1908 J.A. Tormey • July 1908-June 1916 Bruce Watson • July 1916-June 1943 Orville Pratt • July 1943-June 1957 John Shaw • Aug. 1957-July 1965 William Sorenson • Oct. 1965-June 1972 Albert Ayars • July 1972-June 1980 Walter Hitchcock • July 1980-June 1993 Gerald Hester • July 1993-June 2001 Gary Livingston • July 2001-June 2007 Brian Benzel • July 2007-June 2012 Nancy Stowell
Redinger brings fresh direction, expectations to District 81
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – When people in Spokane were asked what they wanted to see in the next superintendent of Spokane Public Schools, they came up with a laundry list of attributes, but one consistently rose to the top: innovation. Shelley Redinger, the woman hired to lead Washington’s second-largest district starting July 1, has a history of changing the culture and operation of the districts she has headed, even though she’s only 44.
Schools chief gets pay hike
The next Spokane Public Schools superintendent is expected to be paid about $17,000 more than the current district leader. The school board plans to approve Shelley Redinger’s contract at Wednesday’s board meeting. Her total compensation – salary and benefits – is $240,000. Current Superintendent Nancy Stowell, whose last day is June 30, retires as the 19th-highest-paid superintendent in Washington with total compensation of $222,906.
Redinger chosen as new schools superintendent
A Virginia school administrator with deep ties to Eastern Washington will be the next superintendent for Spokane Public Schools. The school board decided on Shelley Redinger Saturday morning, school officials said. Redinger will replace Superintendent Nancy Stowell, who will retire at the end of June.
Next Spokane Public Schools superintendent named
Shelley Redinger has been named as the next Spokane Public Schools superintendent, school officials announced today.
School finalists quizzed at forums
Spokane Public Schools’ superintendent finalists – Shelley Redinger and Alexander Apostle – were in town this week, where community leaders, area residents and district employees grilled them about their past and plied them for hints about their leadership style should they become the district’s next leader. More than 100 community members attended one or both of the forums held Wednesday and Thursday at Spokane middle schools.
Finalist for schools leader bows out
One of the three finalists for the job of Spokane Public Schools superintendent withdrew his name from consideration after school board members asked for more answers about a controversy in his past. When a recruiter called Gregory Firn, a schools superintendent in Wadesboro, N.C., on Sunday, the candidate told the recruiter that taking his name out of the running was better than rehashing events from the past.
Spokane Public Schools chief search down to 3
After much conversation, deliberation and interviewing, Spokane Public Schools’ board has narrowed down the search for the next superintendent to three finalists. Alexander Apostle, of Missoula; Shelley Redinger, of Fredericksburg, Va.; and Gregory Firn, of Wadesboro, N.C.; will meet with the community and school staff at forums April 10, 11 and 12.
Spokane School District board narrows superintendent search
Spokane Public Schools’ board has narrowed down the superintendent search to six semifinalists. The names are being kept confidential. However, school officials said the six people are all from outside the district and are a mix of men and women in various positions across the country.
Spokane high school graduation rates rise
More than 75 percent of Spokane Public Schools students are sporting the mortarboard after four years in high school, a preliminary review of the district’s graduation rates shows. That’s up from an on-time graduation rate of slightly more than 60 percent in 2007-’08 and up nearly 7 percentage points since last year, when the district began using a federal guideline to calculate graduation rates. Superintendent Nancy Stowell attributed the improvement to “a shift in expectation, culture and some viable interventions.”
Shawn Vestal: Hint of truth gives credence to school critics
Last June 6, Michael Miller, a teacher at Shadle Park High School, wrote a series of email messages regarding school board candidate – now school board member – Deana Brower. According to a complaint filed with state officials, Miller described Brower in one note as “INCREDIBLE.” In another, he urged a teacher at Lewis and Clark to invite Brower to meet with teachers there. In another, he wrote to Jenny Rose, president of the Spokane Education Association, granting her permission to send a message he’d written on behalf of Brower to “other buildings” to help them arrange events.
Many students still failing
A new program aimed at helping Spokane Public Schools’ failing seventh- and eighth-graders is not the fix school officials had hoped. Individual Credit Advancement Now, or ICAN, was created by district administrators and implemented in November. The goal was to identify students failing math or language arts and require them to stay after school for tutoring until they are back on track.
Spokane Public Schools chief wish list outlined
Integrity, a sense of humor, honesty. It’s not a dream date wish list. Those are just a few of the character traits community members want to see in the next Spokane Public Schools superintendent, according to recruiters.
Schoolteachers thank community for supporting levies
Central Valley School District employees waved brightly lettered signs reading “Thank you” at passing motorists in Spokane Valley on Thursday to show appreciation to voters who helped pass the levy. “We take the extra effort to stand out on the corner to get people to vote, and I just thought it was important to take the extra effort and stand out there and say thank you,” said Central Valley High School Principal Mike Hittle, who came up with the idea.
Residents weigh in on criteria for next schools chief
Only 24 Spokane residents attended two community forums to express their opinion about the desired qualities of the next Spokane Public Schools superintendent. Nevertheless, the two recruiters hired by the district said they learned much about what the community wants. The national search for a new superintendent was launched earlier this month to replace Nancy Stowell, who is retiring June 30. The search firm hired by the district’s board, Illinois-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, led the community forums on Tuesday and Wednesday.
School move lawsuit tossed
A lawsuit that South Hill neighbors hoped would prevent the move of Jefferson Elementary School has been thrown out. The case was dismissed by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Gregory Sypolt on a technicality. The opposition – Hart Field Preservation Organization – failed to meet a 30-day deadline to appeal the district’s decision to move the school from its current location at 37th Avenue and Grand Boulevard to 37th and Manito Boulevard.
Districts will ask voters to help support hundreds of jobs
School levies are often associated with K-12 programs, such as sports, art and music. But the community-supported portion of a school district’s budget – a local tax – also helps pay for hundreds of jobs within a school district, including teachers, coaches, bus drivers, secretaries and janitors.
Schools chief search to begin
A national search for a new Spokane Public Schools superintendent will start after the holidays, school officials announced Thursday. The school board’s decision comes just one week after Nancy Stowell announced she’s retiring effective June 30.
Stowell’s tenure held challenges
During her final six months as Spokane Public Schools superintendent, Nancy Stowell plans to write a retirement wish list on a big piece of paper that will hang on the back of her office door. On Thursday, she rattled off a few items she already has in mind: “I want to spend time with my husband. I want to learn how to speak fluent French. I want to learn to play the piano. I want to cook.”