Friday Family Message

We have begun our Replacement Levy information sessions! There are 10 remaining opportunities — some in-person, some online, some both — for our community to come together and learn more about this critical replacement levy. See the list of upcoming public events on our levy webpage.

Foremost, we want to share that this is not a new tax.

The replacement levy continues funding from a levy set to expire in 2024. Local levies are used across the state to bridge the gap between what school districts are allocated for funding and what the actual needs of schools are.

Local funding pays for staff positions such as instructional assistants, nurses, custodians, safety and security staff. Below are examples of some of the funding gaps (calculated in FTE, full-time equivalent):

Thank you to everyone who voted in this General Election. Locally, it featured races for three of our five School Board positions.

After most of the ballots have been counted, Miranda Evans, Betsy Foster, and Steve King are leading their races for School Board seats. Both Snohomish and Island counties will continue to update their ballot counts over the next few days. You can find updated election results at https://results.vote.wa.gov. The election will be certified on Nov. 28.

Our new School Board directors will be sworn in during our 1 p.m. Dec. 5 School Board meeting.

Learn more about our School Board on our School Board webpage.

The Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation has announced the 27 local projects that are participating in the annual Stanwood-Camano Giving Tuesday campaign this year.

Learn more about the different participating groups and their unique needs — including the Stanwood High School Band Boosters — at scgive.org. The 24-hour online day of giving is November 28.

We're proud to partner with community groups to offer all kinds of educational opportunities for our students!

This week, Camano Arts Association artist Lael Williams visited Stanwood Middle School to share her work and help art teacher Gaylynn Beuthien with a hands-on lesson for students.

This is one of the many wonderful opportunities our students enjoy to better connect with our community!

The Stanwood High fall play opens tonight — and will run for three more showings! Don't miss the powerful drama: "Radium Girls," by D. W. Gregory.

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage — until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, "Radium Girls" traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court.

"Radium Girls" is an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.

The play will be presented at 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 11, 17, and 18 in the SHS Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $9 for adults and $7 for students and can be purchased at the box office or online via GoFan.

In last week's Friday Family Message, I wrote about how we make decisions as to whether we delay or cancel school during inclement weather.

An additional inclement weather resource is now available thanks to Snohomish County PUD.

When reporting an outage on the utility's outage map (outagemap.snopud.com), you can sign up for outage text alerts to stay updated on your specific outage.

• Learn more about the PUD's outage map and text alerts HERE
• Find tips and resources about our emergency weather procedures HERE

The School Board heard two reports on district projects during its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

District staff presented updates on technology initiatives and the Special Services Department. The board also received details on the 2023-24 Flood Plan.

The school board accepted more than $4,000 in donations from the community:

• $1,000 from the Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation Through Grant awarded from the “Mimsie Metzger and Jon L. Metzger Music Grant Fund” in support of the music program at Stanwood Middle School.

• $2,948 from the Windermere Foundation to purchase Lego STEAM kits for the Utsalady Elementary School library.

• $100 worth of paint from Painter Alley in Stanwood to be used to touch up student areas, such as the Sensory Room, at Elger Bay Elementary School

• The next school board meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 21
• Sign up for public comment HERE
• Learn more about the school board HERE

• Sign up to volunteer in our schools HERE
• See breakfast and lunch menus HERE
• Find the calendars for the school year HERE
• Subscribe to our Spartan Sports Report HERE
• View school start times HERE

Please remember to follow the Stanwood-Camano School District on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and Twitter, and follow my tweets @rumbaughsupt.