FILE - A Bend-La Pine Schools sign is pictured in Bend, Ore., May 1, 2017.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
A funding levy on the May ballot would provide more than $21 million of additional funding for Bend-La Pine Schools if approved.
The local option levy would maintain class sizes and recruit and retain teachers. It would also build out the district’s career technical education pathways program and improve support systems for struggling students.
Oregon schools rely heavily on income and property taxes allocated by the state Legislature. But since 1999, Oregon law has allowed individual school districts to ask voters to provide additional funding to their local school district by raising their own property taxes, under what’s often called a “local option levy.” A number of Oregon school districts have such levies in place, including Portland Public Schools, which is asking voters for it to be renewed in May.
The proposed levy rate in Bend-La Pine is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, and the district estimates homes assessed at the area’s median value would pay just under $20 a month.
“It will provide the world-class schools our students, families and our community deserves,” said Melissa Barnes Dholakia, board chair for Bend-La Pine Schools. She told KLCC that this is the first levy the district will put before voters in 20 years.
“Bend-La Pine went out for one in 2004, it did not pass at that time,” said Barnes Dholakia. “Our community has changed quite a bit, so we feel like it is the right time 20 years later to come forward again to all of the residents of Bend-La Pine school district and say, ‘Let’s revisit this, this is something that we want for our community.’”
The levy’s generated revenues would provide an estimated $21.2 million for the 2024-25 academic year.
Barnes Dholakia says two of the most important areas of focus are making sure all students develop strong reading skills, which she says plays a huge part in life outcomes, and giving students a sense of passion and purpose as they navigate the K-12 levels and determine their career path.
Bend-La Pine Schools is the fifth-largest district in Oregon, and serves 17,000 students, including those in Sunriver. It consists of 18 grade schools, seven middle schools and seven high schools.
The ballot measure will be voted on May 21.
Copyright 2024, KLCC.
OPB contributed to this story.