The School Board for Bend-La Pine Schools voted unanimously on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 to place a Local Option Levy on the ballot this May. If approved by voters, the levy would provide additional funding for District operations for the next five years, with an emphasis on career-oriented programs, maintaining class sizes, advanced academic offerings, recruiting teachers and other staff, and other priorities.  

The District estimates the levy would provide an estimated $21.2 million in new revenue for the 2024-25 school year. This would allow the District to fill a state funding gap that limits what is dedicated to student programs and services. 

“What I really see in this potential Local Option Levy opportunity is to really create a system that is great for kids, is great for families, and is really great for our community,” Board Chair Melissa Barnes Dholakia said moments before the vote. 

The District would focus the proposed funding on new and expanded opportunities for over 17,000 students and their families, including: 

• • Strengthening and adding Career Technical Education pathways 
  • Protecting and maintaining class sizes 
  • Recruiting and retaining teachers and support staff 
  • Increasing advanced academic offerings for students 
  • Improving support systems for struggling students 
  • Enhancing elective offerings, including in music, art, technology, business, world languages 

The proposed levy rate is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. The median assessed value of residential properties in the Bend-La Pine School District is $238,750, according to the Deschutes County Assessor’s Office. For a home with that assessed value, the school levy would cost about $239 a year, or just under $20 a month. 

Property taxes are calculated based on a home’s assessed value, not the real market value – what a property might sell for. The assessed value appears under “Net Taxable” on the property tax statement.