At stake in the levy election is 18 percent of the South Kitsap School District operations budget. The two-year levy approved in 1998 will expire in December. The levy needs 60 percent of the vote to pass. Voters had turned down the same request Feb. 29. Less than 54 percent of voters supported the measure then.
School districts can only pose two levy requests to a community in one year.
If the levy is rejected, the district is expected to try again next year. After several levy failures in 1997, South Kitsap schools made cuts that included teachers and other staff, textbooks and various programs. If passed, it will be the first four-year levy passed in South Kitsap. School administrators say the four-year cycle is necessary to provide a stable budget to add new textbooks, to recruit staff and maintain buildings. Absentee ballots must be returned or postmarked by the day of the election.