The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1944-09-14
Feelers Out for
5-Mill Special
School Levy
Passage woulde assure
IS more new rooms for
doubled enrolment

A feeler on what would be the
community's attitude toward a
special school levy has been put
out at the Kiwanis and chamber
of commerce meetings this week.
The problem was Topped into
the laps of the community when
Supt. E. S. Black presented it to
the meeting of the hospital asso-
citation, made up of representatives
of the several organization groups
the community.
with a present enrolment of
more than 1000 the schools are
using churches, Easements, the
Legion hall and every available
space around the school yards,
including seven temporary rooms
being prepared in the Washington
street school.
In addition to. the 1000 now en-
rolled, the local housing authority
has already listed and signed up
some $40 more children to be here
as soon as the trailers are ready for
occupancy. What to do with the
kids? Already overcrowded, the
influx simply cannot be accommo-
date. ~5
The new school, soon to be COM
pleted, will care for not even all
the children now being EARNED
out MIR. Black estimates that
"a more rooms are right now urg-
emily needed. Application for
doubling the new building add
ing 16 more rooms - will not
handle the situation, but the fed
eral government has agreed to fur
night 80 percent of the cost of
doubling its size. Problem, then
to raise the remaining 20 percent.
The state school board states
that it will not put up the entire
amount, but that it will furnish
half the needed money if the local
school district will supply the re-
,.uaining 10 percent. The board
Ews attention to the fact that
= this is the. only school district in
the state which has not put up
some finances for new facilities.
The money necessary to fl
nance the project will require
the local district to raise about
$4,000, Mr.. Black states. He
points out that for this sum the
district will acquire 80 new school
rooms, together with a substantial
fund for operations.
The feeler presented was to see
if the community would back the
school directors in a request for
a special school levy of five addi-
tional mills for this year only. This
would raise the required amount
and there would be no hangover
for interest, etc.
He also drew attention to the
fact that special five-mill levy
would only increase the average
taxpayers annual bill by one
eighth In other words, if he paid
$40 this years, the levy for the
new school would add but SIS to his
statement.
The members of the hospital as
ISOLATION gave Mr.. Black the asur-
ance that they were sure that the
voters in the school district would
go for the special levy. There
was no expression taken at the
meetings of the Kiwanis club nor
N the chamber of commerce,
: xere the matter was laid over
until next week to allow for pri-
waite discussion.
If the project is approved, the
special levy will appear on the
general election ballot this fall.
MIR. Black, in talking about the
situation, said" there were several
alternatives. First, if the district
would put up its small share, the
state would match it so that the
federal funds would be used for
80 percent of the cost of the addi-
tIonal Is rooms. If the district |
refusedSif the proposal failed on
the ballot, the government would |
probably put up taxpayer rooms |
for the immediate duration-or,
the kids could be refused admis-
sion and thus miss a year of school |
or perhaps the whole system put |
on a tWo-Shift basis.