Thursday, October 1, 2026
Major repairs and site improvements are in store for the Tumwater School District after the passage of the Replacement Safety, Technology, and Capital Improvements Levy in February.
The replacement levy passed with 59.39 percent of the vote with the results certified on Feb. 20 by the Thurston County Canvassing Board.
Superintendent Kevin Bogatin congratulated the community for their trust and support in passing the levy.
“This renewal ensures we can maintain safe, secure, and well-equipped learning environments for our students and staff and it reflects a shared commitment to the long-term strength of our district,” wrote Bogatin in his report, which was presented at a Tumwater School District Board of Directors meeting on Feb. 26.
Facilities Director Bill Murray also gave a Facility Plan Update to the school district board at the meeting.
Murray said the district generates revenues from various sources, such as bonds, capital levies, school impact fees, School Construction Assistance Program, New Market Skills Center, state forest funds, interest and miscellaneous grants.
“Capital funds are kind of like our savings account— we don't spend them on (the) general fund, we don't spend them on operations, we spend them on things you can touch and things that last a long time,” Murray said.
According to the report, a capital levy requires a 50 percent simple majority of voters for approval.
A set amount for the capital levy is collected each year, and the amount collected is less than that of a bond.
“With bonds, we are looking at building buildings and doing large additions, large projects. With levies, smaller amounts over several years,” Murray said.
Some projects the levy could fund are major repairs, including plumbing and electric systems, and other maintenance of essential infrastructure.
Site improvements include additional parking, improving drop-off and pick-up, as well as sidewalks, playgrounds and athletic fields.
Projects involving security, software, energy efficiency and learning environment renovations are also included.
Murray said the district is trying to schedule the projects for the six-year levy, as projects can be carried forward to the next year.
The district will not receive the full levy amount next year, but will receive a fixed amount and a progressively increasing amount each following year.
$2.95 million is scheduled to be received in 2026-27, followed by $6.05 million in 2027-28, then $7.35 for 2028-29, $8.75 million for 2029-30, $9.25 million for 2030-31, $ 9.75 million for 2031-32 and $5 million for 2032-23.
Districtwide projects include educational programs (CTE, SPED, TK, etc.), buildings and grounds upgrades, addition of solar panels, student and staff computer devices, classroom audio/visual and data center upgrades. Projects for each school can be viewed in the report.
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