I am a teacher in the Ferndale School District and I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of the upcoming school levy. This is a four-year replacement levy that renews the expiring levy that voters approved in 2010. It is not an additional tax! This levy will help provide funds for basic operational costs. If it does not pass we will lose about a fourth of everything -- staff, buses, programs and more. It makes up for the gap in funding with which the state leaves us.

I can assure you that our district has already made many cuts -- we have no school librarians or counselors and larger classrooms, to name just a few. Even with the levy passing, we will need to make further cuts including closing an elementary school that is too costly to maintain and moving our sixth graders into our middle schools. Quality schools greatly help increase property values. New homeowners are attracted to areas with good neighborhoods and quality schools. So, please, vote in favor of our kids, our community and the future.

Since we need more than 50 percent to pass the levy, every vote counts.

Catherine Dexter

Bellingham