The Vashon school district’s technology and facilities levy passed with more than 70 percent of island voters in favor of the measure, according to King County Elections preliminary results.

As of Monday afternoon, 3,891 of Vashon’s 3,948 returned ballots had been counted. Of those, 70.6 percent (2,748 ballots) were in favor of the four-year, $3.8 million levy. The other 29.38 percent (1,143 ballots) were opposed to the measure.

The levy is a recurring funding source for the district that goes to the polls every four years for renewal. It provides funding for technology equipment, networks, software, support personnel and staff training as well as funding for major facility repairs, small capital projects and preventive maintenance at the district’s schools.

This levy represents a $200,000 increase over the district’s current levy, a decision that came after the school board voiced concerns about the district’s buying power. Board members said the current levy was not keeping up with inflation, so the new levy will adjust to collect $20,000 more every year, providing property values continue to rise as they have. This means the district will collect $920,000 in 2017, $940,000 in 2018, $960,000 in 2019 and $980,000 in 2020.

The school district’s board has been in discussion for months about which projects the levy funds will support, and which will need to be held until the passage of another bond — an attempt to pass a $26.9 million bond in October failed.

“In our darkest moments, we all wondered if the defeat of the bond would affect the levy,” Vashon Island School District (VISD) board chair Bob Hennessey said Friday. “The board is extremely thankful that the community continues to support this basic funding.”

VISD Superintendent Michael Soltman seconded Hennessey and said he was thankful for the levy’s passage.

“We are so grateful for the support of our community to pass the renewal of our levy. Doing so funds our commitment to excellent care and maintenance of our facilities as well as … adequate technology resources for our students,” he said.

According to school district documents outlining potential capital facilities projects and estimated costs, the highest priority projects include $200,000 to replace movable furnishings (desks, chairs) at Chautauqua Elementary School, $10,000 to add acoustic dampening to the Chautauqua gym and $10,000 to build a “confidential space” at the elementary school’s nurse’s office. Light fixtures and controls, as well as playground renovations are also identified as projects at the elementary school. At McMurray Middle School, priority 1 projects scheduled to use levy funds include: $95,500 to replace or repair the school’s windows that many say “fall out” of the frames; a $90,000 project to replace the school’s furnace; $227,000 to replace flooring and various upgrades to lighting. At the high school, potential levy-funded projects include: $70,000 for new batting cages; $181,000 for tennis court renovations; $425,000 for fixing the pavement in the parking area and repainting older buildings (Building F, Building K). District buildings such as the bus barn and various sheds are also set to potentially benefit with roof replacements and exterior repainting.

Since the October bond effort, some have criticized the district for not doing enough to maintain its facilities. Soltman has spoken out against the criticism saying that he stands by the district’s maintenance plan. Board chair Hennessey on Friday said that the district always has a spending plan, but sometimes the plan changes as more immediate needs come up.

“We’re not going to let a roof leak because we had that money set aside for something else,” Hennessey said. “Needs change and we need to change with them, it’s the same thing homeowners do.”

He continued to say that the fact the district now has a list of facilities maintenance projects is “a real improvement.”

“We’re really trying to plan better, so the fact that we have a list that shows the windows (at McMurray) were set to be repaired two years ago is something good to see,” Hennessey said.

The technology part of the levy is set to go toward professional development and planning meetings, licensing consultants, ChromeBooks and assistive technology.

“Two-thirds of it is for personnel,” Hennessey said.

He said the board is continuing its efforts to determine how much of the levy will go to facilities, and how much will go to technology.

“We need to prioritize, prioritize, prioritize,” he said. “If we heard one thing from the community it was that we need to figure out what is crucial and address those things first.”

King County Elections will continue to update election results until certified results are released on Friday. Vashon’s 46 percent voter turnout was the highest of the 11 districts voting on measures in the election.

Meanwhile, during its meeting last Thursday, the school board discussed plans for a second bond effort and decided which elements it wanted further analysis of. It was decided that a new gym at Vashon High School will not be a part of the effort. The October bond measure included a $15.9 million project that would renovate the school’s existing gym for use mainly as a storage and practice facility, as well as build a new gym with a collegiate-sized basketball court, updated locker rooms, restrooms and weight room.

“A new gym is not on the list. The track and field is going forward and we asked for more information on grass versus turf, as well as alternative ways to deal with the structurally unsound bus barn and Building K improvements,” Hennessey said.