A round of postcards zinging Evergreen Public Schools for its Feb. 9 replacement maintenance and operations tax measure has appeared in east Vancouver mailboxes, prompting district officials to rebut what they say is inaccurate information.
There’s no clue as to who or what constitutes “Residents for Responsible Schools,” the name printed below the anti-levy message.
Evergreen leaders say the mailing seems similar to one sent in 2002 by Mark Rossmiller, persistent critic of district policy, who filed gender-equity complaints over girls’ athletics programs, and then ran an unsuccessful 2007 campaign for the school board.
Rossmiller hung up on The Columbian when reached by telephone, and did not respond to an e-mail — without confirming or denying a role.
The postcard alleges that Evergreen has the second-highest administrative cost of any Washington school district, “despite dropping enrollment” and “superficial staff cuts” made recently.
Evergreen has posted a letter from Superintendent John Deeder on its Web site (http://www.evergreenps.org) that disputes those claims.
The district’s share of administrative costs (12.3 percent) is below the state average and is lower than in several large districts in the state, Deeder wrote. Enrollment has climbed each year, and Evergreen now spends only 1.1 percent more for administrative costs in 2009-10 than it did in 2006-07, he wrote.
Previous salary hikes were mandated by a voter-approved state ballot measure, while medical premium and pension costs also have spiked, Deeder wrote. Yet, Evergreen also eliminated 73 nonteaching positions last summer, including a 27 percent reduction in central district office staff, part of $11 million in budget reductions made for the current year, he said.
“While there are several other incorrect or misleading statements being made about the levy — these were the most egregious and ones I felt needed to be addressed immediately,” Deeder wrote.
The mailer does raise valid points: Student assessment scores for high school math and science exams did dip from 2007 to 2009, and remained below 50 percent “pass” rates — mostly matching statewide trends.
Language on the two-sided mailer is similar to that on fliers that surfaced during Evergreen school construction bond measure campaigns in 2002 and in 2008, said Carol Fenstermacher, Evergreen spokeswoman.
The first time, Rossmiller’s home address appeared on the mailer, which carried a “Vote No Bond” banner. In 2008, there was no address on a “Vote No Evergreen Bond” mailer, Fenstermacher said.
Fact is, any person may send a ballot issue flier without filing any state records, so long as minimum criteria are met.
A “sponsor waiver” applies for written mailers (as opposed to a newspaper or electronic advertisement, for example) sent at least 10 days before an election, and not reaching $100 in total cost, said Lori Anderson, spokeswoman for the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission in Olympia.
The newest postcards show 28-cent postage, which means up to 357 items could be mailed without triggering identification rules.
That may not make much of a dent in Evergreen, where 25,003 patrons voted on the expiring M&O levy in February 2006, approving it by nearly 65 percent to 35 percent.
Meantime, Deeder and others will host a second school levy community forum at noon, in the Tan Complex of the Evergreen district administrative center, 13501 N.E. 28th St.
A special district Web cast will follow at 6 o’clock tonight, to be simulcast on Comcast Cable Channel 28.
Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.
