District Claims School Resource Officer Program is Levy-Funded - Fact Check

[Bryan S]

Tahoma made this Facebook Post related to THS School Resource Officer Sam Shirley. This post immediately caught me off-guard as security is state-funded. The FB posts claims.

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Deputy Sam Shirley is in his 13th year caring for Tahoma students as a School Resource Officer. The levy-funded SRO program enhances the safety and security of our schools and supports a culture of positive interactions with law enforcement for students.

While Sam Shirley does a great job considering he is by himself and can't be everywhere at once, we need to fact check the district here.

• Security is not funded by levies and is actually part of maintenance, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC) funds apportioned by the state.
• Each school in the state, is apportioned approximately $146.37 for security and central office "per pupil". Read page 2 of ESHB 2494 passed on 1 March 2024.
• The district has around 8,600 students. 8,600 students x $146.37 = $1,258,782.00 for dedicated security and central office.

The district's claim that this is a levy funded program in order to scare people into voting yes is extremely misleading and poor taste. Perhaps the program is "levy augmented", which would have been a believable claim, but the claim made is flat out false and appears to be another scare tactic. I am all for increasing funding for security, because Sam Shirley can't do it all by himself, but the district just needs to be honest for once about how it manages its money.

[Dash]

I support school levy's in general. I want the district I live in to have the best possible chance at success and I want students to have a plethora of programs to pull knowledge from. I just don't trust the district with the funds anymore though. Just looking at the district's claim right here makes me believe they will can Deputy Smith before removing someone like the Equity Director who gets paid over $200k a year to do what? Deputy Smith's job is important, is actually funded by the MSOC funds, and costs much less than many other positions in the district.  We know the "Good ol' Boys" will loot the treasury before cutting themselves out though...

 

[FamilyExec]

This just makes me crazy!! Why the continuous lies/omissions on how levy money is spent! Why can’t they just be transparent like we have been asking for years? Frustrating to fund a levy when there are so many questions on how the money is and should be spent. 

[Deb Hutch]

This is nothing new. The district has gaslit parents for years.

[RayT]

SRO funding was also included in the Maple Valley Public Safety Levy approved November 2023.  

[Justin B]

@RayT that is a fantastic point! SRO funding is provided by both the state and the city.

https://info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/Vote/contests/ballotmeasures.aspx?lang=en-US&cid=100886&groupname=City

[Nathalie]

Now, here is the problem. People around are mostly unaware of these lies, big and small and are under the pressure from district. How can we help that?

Also, There aren't only boys in "boys club". Correct me if I'm wrong, Dawn Wakely, I believe it was her who's got the salary raise in the amount of $180K. This is equivalent to Camp Casey funding for 3 years in a row... 

[Justin B]

@Nathalie correct, it’s not only boys. It’s just a common phrase people use around here that eludes to a corrupt group of individuals.

Regarding raising awareness, that is a great question. We are trying to help do that with our articles and this forum.

I wish the forum had more engagement admittedly, but both the forum and more so our articles do get a decent amount of reads. Usually enough people read our content to get word out to those who are interested and engaged sparking widespread discussion. 
 

It’s still not enough though, as many people do not concern themselves with local politics or district management matters. These individuals rarely see or hear the information. These are the people we really need to start making aware, but they are far harder to reach. 
 

Its up to people like us to talk with friends, family and neighbors about these things. You can always point them here if they show interest and want to stay informed. 

[Nathalie]

I have to correct myself here. The camp Casey funding was 78K, so 180K salary raise is equivalent to 2 years of funding. Still a lot...