To the State Board of Education
September 1, 1948
PROPOSAL TO FORM A NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THURSTON COUNTY COMPRISING A PART OF THE TERRITORY OF THE YELM SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 400
By action of the Board at its meeting on July 27, 1948, this proposal is scheduled for a hearing before the Board in conformity with the request of both the proponents and the opponents of the proposal. The following statement of facts has been prepared for the purpose of furnishing board members with essential information about the proposal.
Facts and Developments Connected With the Proposal
- Yelm School District No. 400 is a joint district, including territory in Thurston and Pierce Counties. At the present time it operates a high school and a graded elementary school in Yelm and a three-teacher elementary school for grades 1-6 at McKenna in Pierce County.
- Prior to the last school year (1947-48) the Yelm District also operated a one-room school at Lacamas in Thurston County, approximately ten miles southeast of the city of Yelm. This school was operated under an arrangement whereby parents residing in the vicinity were permitted to choose between the one-room school at Lacamas and the graded school in Yelm. Under this arrangement the average daily attendance at Lacamas dropped from 16.7 in June, 1943, to 7.7 in June, 1947.
- In view of the declining attendance at Lacamas and a division of opinion among residents of the area respecting attendance at the school, the Yelm school board requested a nonresident of the school district to interview parents regarding their attitude toward the continued operation of the Lacamas school. The interviews were conducted in may, 1947. Selected for interviews were the nine families in the area whose children (16 in number) would be in grades 1-6 during the school year 1947-48. Statements from the report of these interviews throw light on the situation prevailing in this area and are, therefore, quoted below:
Quoted from the report
- “No difficulty was experienced in getting people to talk. They expressed themselves freely, and often with real conviction.”
- “Four families preferred to send their children to school in Yelm. In nearly all cases this was a positive, unqualified preference amounting to a deep conviction. Two families preferred Lacamas; one family was undecided; two were not interviewed” (presumably could not be located at the time
For the Formation of the New District Territory
Yes No
# of Families# of Children # of Families # of Children
Residents of Old Lacamas District 3 4 6 9
Residents of Territory in Old Yelm 2 7 1 2 District
Total 5 11 7 11
One family with two children is not reported in the foregoing tabulation because of conflicting reports about the family preference. Excluding this family, five families with eleven children appear to favor the formation of the new district; and seven families with eleven children seem to be opposed, preferring to have their children attend the graded school in Yelm.
Proposed Adjustment of Assets and Liabilities of the Districts Involved
Estimated Revenue of Proposed District 1948-49
- That State and County funds based on attendance during 1947-1948, of all elementary school pupils residing in the proposed new district become an asset of said district during 1948-49, the state and county funds available for expenditure by the Yelm District to be reduced correspondingly (4300 days at 37 cents per day) $1590
- That one educational unit be credited to the proposed District for 1948-49, and that state funds therefore be made available for said district and deducted from receipts of the Yelm District $1650
- That proceeds of the general fund tax levy made in October, 1948, by the Yelm District No. 400 in the amount of five mills on the taxable valuation of the new district become an asset of said new district (5 mills x $585,000) $2925
- That sixty percent of approved transportation costs for the new district for the school year 1948-49 be allowed to said District out of state transportation reimbursement funds apportioned to the Yelm District during 1948-49 $1300 (est)
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Total $7465