Mount Pleasant again seeks levy to support school district

The Mount Pleasant School District is once again seeking voter approval for a two-year, $310,000 maintenance and operations levy that voters defeated in February.

If approved, property owners within the district would pay an estimated $3.85 per $1,000 of assessed value next year and $3.78 per $1,000 for 2016. Altogether, the levy would raise $310,000 over the next two years.

The current levy rate is $2.44 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Superintendent Vicki Prendergast and two school board members wrote a statement in support of the levy in the voters’ pamphlet, saying the district used to survive on federal funds that have dried up in recent years.

“Federal forest and levy equalization funds have been almost eliminated, leaving a shortfall in the budget,” the statement reads.

Adding to the strain are the rising costs of utilities, insurance and other expenses at the small school east of Washougal, proponents said.

“We are experiencing increasing Washington state compliance requirements such as adoption of the Common Core State Standards and Teacher Principal Evaluation Program. There was a period where we deferred maintenance because of uncertain funding and are now faced with making these repairs.”

Mount Pleasant, a K-7 school at the entrance to the Columbia River Gorge, runs on a budget of about $500,000 each year. The school serves only about 70 students, who later move on to the Washougal or Stevenson-Carson school districts to complete their public education.