Editor’s note: This article has been updated from the print version in the July 26 edition with new information about a new bond.

Enucmlaw and Black Diamond’s first — and only — primary race of the election season is underway.

Vying for your vote for the Enumclaw School District Board District No. 4 position is incumbent Lori Metschan and challengers Ben Stouffer and Tonya Pettit.

Metschan was the only candidate who responded to a request for an interview; Stouffer and Pettit were sent questions, but they did not respond by print deadline. However, information about their platform can be found on the “ESD Candidates for Change” Facebook group.

None of the candidates have raised or spent any money, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, but a coalition of candidates that are running for school district board positions — which includes Stouffer and Pettit — have been actively campaigning in downtown Enumclaw during bigger events, like the first-Friday-of-the-month Cruise Down Cole Street event and the annual Street Fair last weekend.

Although Stouffer and Pettit are running against each other to represent the Black Diamond area on the ESD Board, their platform appears highly similar, if not identical, by touting parents’ rights, urging a refocus on education, and calling for a more “responsible” district budget.

While education, transparency, and finances are also on Metschan’s mind, she said that one of her biggest concerns is district growth.

“We need to have safe, adequate schools for the kids,” she said, especially considering Black Diamond’s spiking population — according to the Association of Washington Cities, Enucmlaw’s neighbor to the north grew the most (nearly 12%, or about 735 people) between 2022 and 2023 out of all other cities.

This was one of several reasons the Enumclaw School District Board put a $253 million bond measure on the February special election ballot. The bond aimed to fund a new elementary school in Black Diamond, a new elementary school and Birth to Five center in Enumclaw (replacing the aging Byron Kibler and J. J. Smith buildings), a new performing arts center at the high school, and a new sports stadium.

The district needed a supermajority of voters (60%) to pass the bond; instead, 75% of voters rejected it.

After its defeat, ESD put out a bond feedback survey, and the results were clear: beyond the overall price and that people thought the proposed stadium specifically was too expensive, the third main reason people voted against the measure was that they didn’t want to pay for a new Black Diamond school.

According to Metschan, the Board took that into account, and presented a revised — read: very slimmed-down — bond measure back to voters during the July 24 meeting; this new bond just focuses on building a new elementary and Birth To Five Center in Enumclaw, and leaves out a new performing arts center, sports stadium, and new Black Diamond elementary altogether.

While this would address some of Enumclaw’s needs, it wouldn’t address Black Diamond’s, and Metschan is worried that this bond could also fail to reach that 60% mark because there’s no incentive for Black Diamond residents to vote for it.

“We’re going to need to help each other,” she said.

It’s unclear where Stouffer and Pettit stand on a bond. However, a flier at a candidate table at the Street Fair reads, “ESD needs to clearly evaluate needs vs. wants, and be totally transparent with the community. It also needs to look at ways to re-allocate its $76 million budget instead of constantly asking for more money through levies and bonds.”

As it stands, about $32 million (42%) of ESD’s budget went to certificated staff (educators and administration) salaries and another $14.1 million (18.5%) to classified staff (para-educators, cooks, janitors, drivers, etc.) this past school year. Just over $17.7 million (23%) went to employee benefits and payroll taxes.

Instructional resources and supplies expenses, as well as other purchased services, came with a $5.5 and $5.7 million price tag each, accounting for another 7% each of the district’s overall expenses in the 2022-2023 school calendar year.

ESD ‘FAILING’ STUDENTS?

A flier for Stouffer and Tonya claims that “ESD is failing our kids” and handouts at a candidate table show that only 40% of ESD students met math standards, almost 50% met science standards, and almost 57% met English-Language Arts standards in 2022, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Additionally, over 30% of students do not attend school regularly, an OSPI report shows.

But those numbers are only a piece of the puzzle for how well, or not well, ESD is educating local students, and additional context is necessary to understand the full scope of impact.

For example, “regular attendance” means having fewer than two absences per month (excused or unexcused), on average. ESD’s attendance rate was holding steady or even rising in the recent past — between 85% and 86% from the 2017 to 2020 school years, and a jump to 97% in 2020 and 2021 — until last year, when it dipped to 69.5%.

And while only 40% of students met math standards in the spring of 2022, that number has been jumping around from a low of 28% to a high of 53% between 2014 and 2021.

(Data for ‘19-‘20 is not available because end-of-year-tests were cancelled for the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The story is the same for ELA and science standard rates: the former has varied widely, going from low as 50% to as high as 65.5% between 2014 to 2021, while the latter has stayed more steady, moving between 42% and 53% between 2017 and 2021 (science standard rates have been tracked for less years than math and ELA rates).

The percentage of ESD students meeting standards is higher than the Auburn School District (43.6% of students met ELA standard rates in 2022; math, 30%; science, 35%) while also spending less per student (ASD spends $18,000 per student, ESD $16,600); the Renton School District (ELA 43%; math 32.5%; science 33.3%; spends $18,600 per student); and the Kent School District (ELA 48%; math 33%; science 40%; spends $17,700).

However, ESD standard rates lagged behind the White River School District (ELA 62%; math 47.5%; science 49%) and the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District (ELS 64%, math 50%; science 54%) in 2022; both districts also spend less per student (around $14,500 each).

Metschan said she and the board have not received any concern about failing students from the public before, and if they had, the board would have addressed the issue with the superintendent’s cabinet.

EXPERIENCE VS. REFORMS

It’s a question as old as elections — do you vote for the more experienced candidate who is personally and professionally knowledgeable of the system, or the fired-up newcomer looking to make big changes?

While Stouffer and Pettit appear to want to “reform” the school board, it doesn’t appear they have any education experience: the former is an electrical construction superintendent, and the latter works with the earthwork and underground utility company Big Mountain Enterprises, according to the King County Voters Guide.

On the other hand, Metschan not only has school board experience, but is also knowledgeable about how the district works on many levels, which she believes is a good reason to vote for her on Aug. 1.

“I have ten years of on-hand experience subbing in the school district… I subbed just about every position that didn’t require a teaching certificate,” she said. “I loved it.”

On top of that, Metschan had five kids grow up in ESD and graduate from the high school.

Meanwhile, Stouffer and Pettit are making themselves out to be true representatives of the people by advocating for parents’ rights in their child’s education.

There are several changes the two want to make along the lines of parents’ rights, which has become a buzzword in school elections around the country.

One item is to pass a resolution acknowledging parents’ rights and how they are a primary stakeholder in their child’s education.

The ESD Board did not pass a resolution as such, but did say in a statement during the March 21, 2022 meeting that, “We believe that parents/guardians are the primary stakeholders in their children’s education. It is our hope that parents/guardians take an active role in their child’s education in Enumclaw School District. We hope that parents/guardians create strong relationships with their child’s teachers and have the opportunity to review any curriculum that is being taught in the classroom.”

Also on the agenda would be moving public comment to the beginning of board meetings, as opposed to having it at the end (the public comment period was shifted last March), start a Parent Advisory group that would have dedicated agenda time at meetings, have all workshops and meetings recorded and available (meetings are often recorded by the city of Enumclaw but not when there is a conflict between city council meetings and ESD meetings), have regular town halls to promote two-way conversations between the public and board members, and release more surveys to parents.

Metschan said she’s excited for more people participating in local election and wanting to be on the school board, but she added that the current board is heading in the right direction and that her opponents are unaware of the actual powers a school board member has.

“I think that both my opponents are making campaign promises that they do not have adequate information on hand to know that it is most likely out of their scope,” she said.