Highline School District voted at Wednesday’s noon meeting to include an expiring educational levy to the November 2025 ballot. The current levy does not expire until 2026.
A dozen people showed up to speak at the School Board’s July 2 midday meeting. Most speakers were in favor of the levy, including “Yes for Highline!” spokeswoman, three young children, an elderly community member, and former Communications Chief Catherine Carbone Rogers. All spoke highly of Highline and entreated the community to vote to fund programs supported by the levy.
Four people spoke up against the levy as it has been proposed, asking the board to reconsider how high the levy was going to raise the taxes on community families in the Highline District.
Here is the verbiage of the Proposal:
Committees “in favor” and “opposed” were included in the action report.
Committee advocating approval (PRO):
- Trisha Arias
- Jeb Binns
- Tina Orwall
Committee advocating rejection (CON):
- Patricia Bailey
- Judy Counley
- Melissa Petrini
Public Comment From Former School Board Member, Melissa Petrini:
Good afternoon, members of the board,
I rise today, not just as a concerned citizen and parent, but as someone who has watched our district’s financial decisions closely as a previous school board director—and what I’ve seen is deeply troubling.
Let’s begin with the $84 million in COVID relief—ESSER funds—not meant for ongoing expenses. Yet, in your June 12th budget presentation, Ms. Bryant blamed our budget deficit on the loss of those very temporary funds. Worse, a document I finally received after months of asking showed that over $15 million of that was essentially “ongoing expenses,” but the state deemed that you could not use them for that. The financial mismanagement of those emergency funds did nothing to help our students, and you continue to ignore the calls for assisting students in learning loss, meaningful tutoring and interventive funds towards programs that have outstanding results.
Then, just three months after cutting $8 million due to the deficit—including staff positions—district administration gave themselves a 3.7% inflationary raise. Teachers? They only got an additional 1% bump. That’s not prioritizing classrooms—it’s prioritizing bureaucracy.
Your 2024–25 budget shows $404.6 million being spent, with 87% allegedly on direct services to students. Based on your own enrollment figure of 16,851 students, that’s over $20,000 per student. But in 2025–26, even with 500 fewer students projected, you’re asking for $421 million—pushing per-student spending over $22,000. Yet your own budget book claims you only spend $16,579 per student. So I ask—where is the rest of the money going?
You say “literacy” is a focus, but you’re spending less on LAP funds this year than last—$15.4 million versus $15.78 million. And now, you’re asking voters for a $333 million levy—that is $120 million more than the previous levy—while student outcomes remain stagnant, and over 50% of our kids are still behind by more than three grade levels in reading, math, and science. You haven’t proven a return on our educational investments. You can’t use Levy funds for Special Education anymore, so where are these funds going?
This massive levy ask, in the middle of already rising property taxes, is not justified. It will hurt homeowners and renters, many of whom already face unaffordable housing which could rise with pass-along rental increases.
A levy equal to the previous one might be understandable. But bloated budgets, opaque spending, shrinking student enrollment, and contracts handed to friends and spouses—followed by conveniently revised conflict-of-interest policies—make this ask offensive.
The residents of Highline are not against education. We are against waste, lack of transparency, and being taxed without results. We demand better—and we say NO to this levy.
Thank you.
Public Comment From School Board Candidate, Katie Kresly:
I’m here today with three key concerns about the budget, academic results, and the levy you’re asking voters to approve.
As you ask the community to support students and staff – who certainly need and deserve funding – I ask that you also consider the families of those students. If this levy passes without some cuts, Highline families will suffer unnecessarily under the weight of an increased tax burden in the coming years.
First:
You’re budgeting $421 million this year—about $25,000 per student, much of it funded by local taxpayers. Even the direct learning share is around $16,000. But what are we getting for it? Several of the very young student speakers here today explained how they enjoy a wonderful experience at Highline, but that is not the case for many Highline students. Half of our students are three grade levels behind, and only one of three can read or write at grade level. Yet your million-dollar communications team doesn’t talk about this failure. They promote programs, especially the non-academic variety, but not the district’s lack of performance.
Second:
Credit where it’s due—you’re not in binding financial conditions like Bellevue or other local districts. Highline remains afloat. But you’re still short $19 million in special education funding due to legislative inaction. Instead of making modest cuts, you’re increasing the budget by $23 million. And when two former board members asked to make literacy a top legislative priority, they were told no—because everything else needed to be funded first, and the district didn’t want strings attached. Literacy would come after full funding. That speaks volumes.
Third:
You’re asking voters to approve a so-called “replacement” levy that increases tax collections by 64% over five years. And in 2026, you’re planning to propose a bond for new school buildings. So I ask:
If you’re raising taxes this much now, without making internal cuts or prioritizing core academic outcomes like reading, what do you expect voters to say when you come back in 2026 asking for more?
Please reconsider how much you’re asking, and why.
Thank you.
