Following the failure of the three proposed Tahoma School District levies in February, the school board held two special meetings to discuss what happens next.

At the second meeting Feb. 20, the Tahoma School Board decided to put the Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy back on the ballot for the King County April Special Elections to keep programs at schools and to keep staff from getting laid off.

The levy amount will stay the same at $1.50 per $1,000 and will be a two-year levy instead of a four-year levy.

The board voted in favor of postponing the other two proposed levies from February’s ballot — the bus levy and the technology levy— until the November 2018 ballot.

The two remaining levies will be discussed in further detail in oversight committees, according to the board.

A press release from the school district said, “In general, the two committees will provide a venue for community member questions, feedback and oversight moving forward.”

According to Kevin Patterson, the communications director for the Tahoma School District, the council did this because they want to make sure the community is informed about what the levies will account for.

During the lengthy board meeting on Feb. 20, the board voted 5-0 to put this the EP&O levy back on the ballot to ensure programs at the schools will not be cut.

According to Lori Cloud, assistant superintendent of the Tahoma School District and director of financial services, the EP&O levy covers all extracurricular activities. For example, it covers all sporting activities and after school programs.

“We don’t have a penny that goes toward that (extracurriculars), that isn’t from the EP&O levy,” Cloud said.

The other reason the council decided to put only the EP&O levy on the ballot for April is to make sure teachers do not get laid off next school year.

“I don’t want our teachers to feel pressured, I don’t want them to leave,” said Tahoma School Board member Tami Henkel. “We hired quality people to work with our kids.”

Patterson said there is talk about just how many staff members could be laid off.

“Without that levy, we’re definitely going to have to make cuts,” he said. “(We’re) still kind of looking at those numbers, (but) the number I’ve heard is about 30 (people to be cut).”

Mary Jane Glaser, the president of the school board, said she wants to make it clear to the community that this levy also covers safety in the school as well.

During the meeting, there was discussion about changing the name of the levy to include the word “safety,” in order to better communicate to the community what the levy covers.

Glaser called on the audience members who attended the meeting to vote on a changing the name and it was clear from their votes that the word “safety” was to stay out of the title.

The new name for the levy is “Replacement of Expiring Educational Programs and Operations Levy.” Adding the word expiring is to make it clear to voters this levy is replacing an expiring levy, according to the board.

Community members that spoke at the board meeting during public comment had a range of opinions on the matter.

Some wanted the board to run the exact same EP&O levy that ran during the February election, some did not want the board to run any measure and others agreed and wanted to do a two-year levy.

The feeling during the meeting, according to the press release, is that the community feels like they are being overtaxed, and that is why it has been hard to get levies to pass.

The deadline to make sure this levy is on the ballot in April was Friday, Feb. 23.