MARYSVILLE – Any time a levy passes, the government taxing agency thanks the public for its support.

But this time, you could tell the Marysville School District really meant it.

Part of the reason probably is because things didn’t look that great for the levies on Election Night. The Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy was trailing by hundreds of votes, and the Technology and Capital Projects Levy was too close to call.

A few days later, thanks to one of the largest turnarounds in local school levy history, both measures passed. Proposition 1 showed a 58 percent “yes” vote in the late tallies.

“The procrastinators were positive,” school board member Pete Lundberg said at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Board president Tom Albright said he was glad for levy passage so the school district can maintain its buildings and keep its technology efforts going.

Lundberg said he especially appreciates those who support schools even though they don’t have kids in them.

“They voted for them because somebody voted for them” when they were kids in school, he said.

Stop bullying

During the public comment period at the meeting, parent Jani Gooch talked about bullying in schools. “It’s everywhere – at all grade levels,” she said. “They start so young now.”

Gooch said other parents have told her they don’t say anything anymore because nothing gets done.

She knows of parents who have taken their first-graders off the bus “because their little girls were called names they should never hear,” Gooch said.

Middle school can be the hardest time, when kids are the most damaged. It even happens during classes that are not very supervised.

“It’s touched so many people,” Gooch said, adding she doesn’t have the answer but more must be done for the kids.

Fund special ed

Community member Preston Dwoskin talked about his efforts in Olympia to get more funding for special education students. He encouraged the community to call their legislators to show support for the Senate budget, which funds special education better than the House version. Later, the school board passed a resolution in support of more federal and local funding for special education.

“Those that need it the most get the least,” board member Chris Nation said, adding the federal government, since 1975, is supposed to supply 40 percent of special education funding, but the best it has done in 43 years is paying in the mid-teens.

Support, not punitive

During a work session before the meeting, Shawn Stevenson, director of assessment and student support, gave a presentation on the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaces No Child Left Behind.

He said the main differences are:

•The ESSA assesses student academic growth over time – three years rather than year to year.

•It is designed to be more supportive, rather than punitive. “A number of schools will get more help,” he said. Stevenson added that schools also will receive “targeted” help if their scores are low in one area. “Most schools will qualify in most categories,” he added. Stevenson could not say yet what the help will consist of and who would pay for it.

Future of schools

Acting superintendent Jason Thompson talked about the ongoing State of the Secondary Schools Study in the district.

He said staff, students and families are taking an online survey on the future of the middle and high schools in Marysville. “We are hitting as many places as we can with social media,” he said. “Kids don’t use email anymore, and the young parents are social media savvy.”

Thompson said public participation has been robust. “A lot of people want their voices heard,” he said.

One area of concern right now is that eighth-graders in Marysville are about ready to pick which high school they want to attend. However, one of the things under consideration in the future is having geographic boundaries instead of choice. However, Thompson said this year’s eighth-graders can pick and then finish at that same school, but parents may need to help with transportation to school or a bus stop.

In other news

•Cameras have been installed at Pinewood Elementary School due to vandalism.

•Albright said the Marysville-Pilchuck basketball team is fun to watch, and encouraged folks to attend their state playoff game Saturday.

•Board Mariana Maksimos said, “There are problems but we will work together as a community. It will take time, but we will get it done.”

•Nation said about a recent trip to the nation’s capital that equity is a concern. He said low-income housing development is bringing people of color to certain areas of towns. “That’s leading to unintentional segregation in schools,” he said.

•The Marysville Kiwanis Club donated more than $3,460 to the Key Club.

•Finance director Mike Sullivan expects about 100 fewer students in Marysville next year, about average for the past five years.