By Nisqually Valley News staff
Former Washington state Representative, and current Port of Tacoma Position No. 4 Commissioner, JT Wilcox voiced his support toward the upcoming Yelm Community Schools (YCS) levy measure — which will appear on ballots in the upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 3, election.
Wilcox, whose family roots have been tied to the Nisqually Valley region since 1909 when Wilcox Family Farms launched in Roy, shared his support for the upcoming measure in a Facebook post on Thursday, Oct. 15.
The levy itself will run at a rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed home value. If passed, YCS would collect $11,194,449 from local taxpayers in 2027 and $12,278,073 in 2028. The levy would also maintain current student programs, services and athletics, including: high school varsity and junior varsity athletics, extracurricular activities, AP courses, electives, safety-related facility and grounds maintenance.
Additionally, YCS would be able to maintain its current class sizes and class offerings.
“Although it will add cost to my family’s business, which relies on property that is taxed, I and probably all my family will vote YES on the Yelm (Community) Schools levy,” Wilcox shared to Facebook. “Like many of you, I’m outraged at what is happening with schools at the state level but that’s not the fault of our school district or our school kids. Young people have just a few years to get a good start in life and we depend on that generation to provide for our future. A good start for them means a better future for us.”
According to Wilcox, he voted no on a YCS levy “a few years ago” for the first time in order to “make a point.” With four consecutive failed levies in the rearview mirror, and a fifth measure with potentially dire consequences toward the district, Wilcox wrote that the point has been made.
“I want the district to have the resources to retain good staff, add specialists for kids that need extra help, maintain the valuable new buildings we paid for and to field good teams, bands and after school activities,” Wilcox wrote. “My parents and grandparents paid for those things when I went to Yelm, and I feel responsible to do that for my grandchildren’s generation. And I will work hard to elect a new State Superintendent of Public Instruction and representatives around the state who care about prioritizing basic education instead of social engineering.”
It was nearly a month ago that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) warned YCS that the district could face dissolution if its financial condition doesn’t improve, according to a letter sent from OSPI on Monday, Sept. 28.
The district has been under “binding conditions” status — the lowest level of OSPI financial oversight — since Sept. 2024. If the voters fail the upcoming levy measure for a fifth consecutive time, OSPI would convene a Financial Oversight Committee (FOC).
The FOC would require YCS to develop a two-year financial plan that demonstrates how it would restore and maintain its financial health while continuing to meet state basic education requirements.
The potential consequences would also extend beyond the financial cuts already made by the district. Kelly noted that services such as transportation for general education students, after-school programs and athletics are not among the state’s minimum basic education requirements.
“With us having to cut an additional $9 million and 80-to-90 positions, I can tell you, today, that would be really hard for us to do,” Woods said, during a Tuesday, Oct. 13, Yelm City Council meeting. “It would be really hard for us to meet the basic education requirements of our state at that point with having to make those significant cuts. More than likely, we would go from financial oversight into dissolution.”
