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Yelm Community Schools intensifies levy outreach as district posts rising web traffic and volunteer hours
Summary
District leaders described a stepped-up communications campaign for a February levy, reporting elevated website visits, video views and roughly 6,800 volunteer hours by midyear. Officials said outreach will continue through the Feb. 11 election date.
YELM, Wash. — Yelm Community Schools officials told the school board on Jan. 23 they have increased outreach about the district's levy proposal, reporting sustained website traffic, thousands of video views and an unusually large volunteer contribution so far this school year.
"We are trying to get the information out to every single person in our community," School Board President Denise Henderson said during the meeting. She and district staff described multiple communication channels — weekly newsletters, social-media posts and recorded forums — designed to explain why the levy would be needed and how levy funds would be used.
A district staff member, Terry Malone, told the board the district's levy website has logged more than 1,400 unique visits since it was launched and that five videos the district posted have "had over 12,000 views and almost 500 interactions." "Because of the exponential sharing," Malone said, "we believe that the message is getting out there." Malone also described targeted posts to encourage voter registration and an informational campaign noting that Pierce County will administer the election.
District staff provided a snapshot of volunteer activity, saying about 6,800 volunteer hours had been logged by the semester across schools. "Where we may not have the people, we've had volunteers step in, and are burning the midnight oil themselves," Henderson said, adding the district hoped to "double that by the end of the year" to continue supporting students.
Superintendent Denise Henderson and staff said they have been offering evening forums, one-on-one conversations by phone or Zoom, printed materials in every school and regular newsletter content (sent to more than 14,000 addresses each week) to reach community members who might not otherwise engage. The district also said it has posted recordings of board meetings and forums online so residents can access information asynchronously.
The board was told the district will keep outreach running through the Feb. 11 ballot deadline and will continue answering questions from residents by phone, email and scheduled conversations. Henderson and staff cautioned that additional funding-related bills may move in the state Legislature this session and that the district would continue to update the community on any relevant changes.
The meeting included no public-comment speakers on the levy during the session.
