On February 10, Battle Ground voters will decide the future of our local schools with Proposition 10. We are currently at a dangerous crossroads: starting January 2026, Battle Ground Public Schools became the only district in Southwest Washington without an active local educational programs and operations (EP&O) levy.
While some may see a “no” vote as a way to control taxes, history warns that this path often leads to exactly the opposite result. Look at the 2007 dissolution of the Vader School District. For years, Vader voters rejected local levies, hoping to avoid the tax burden. When those consecutive failures left the district unable to function, it was forcibly dissolved and annexed into the neighboring Castle Rock School District.
The irony was immediate and expensive. Before the merger, Vader officials had asked for a levy rate of approximately $1.81 per $1,000. After the district collapsed, those same residents were legally absorbed into Castle Rock and forced to pay Castle Rock’s significantly higher levy rates (approximately $2.53 per $1,000), rates they had no hand in choosing. By 2009, they were paying roughly $1.00 more per $1,000 than the “lower” rate they had originally rejected…