Lopez Rec levy fails: School sports future hangs in the balance
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 13, 2026
The Lopez Island Park and Recreation District’s Proposition No. 1 levy has failed, and with it, the future of Lobo college sports is now in critical doubt.
Speaking in his position as superintendent of the Lopez Island School District, Brady Smith confirmed that this 12 months’s athletic applications — together with the present monitor and golf seasons — are totally funded by the finish of the college 12 months. But the image for the 2026–2027 college 12 months is way extra precarious.
A race towards time for subsequent 12 months
The college board has postponed passing its annual decision committing to WIAA — the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association — till a clearer funds image emerges. That decision have to be handed by May 27, and to take action comfortably, the district wants $100,000 in donations in hand or pledged.
But Smith was candid about the limits of this strategy. “It’s unsustainable,” he mentioned. Without a sustainable funding resolution — and Lopez Rec’s levy was seen as the clearest path to at least one — the college faces the identical disaster once more subsequent 12 months, and yearly after that. Jennifer Poole, a commissioner with Lopez Rec, a voter-established Parks and Recreation District serving Lopez Island, put the levy’s position in broader context, pointing first to the state coverage she believes created the disaster. “The McCleary legislation disproportionately affected small school districts like ours, especially property-rich ones,” she mentioned. “We pay more into the state pot of money because we’re a high property value district, but the state capped our ability to locally levy for enrichment programs. That created a really immediate and significant budget shortfall — one that is not felt as significantly by larger [small] districts like Orcas and San Juan.” She described the Lopez Rec levy as a part of a broader response to that strain: “The technique of using that district [Lopez Rec] to fund school sports is really one of many strategies to try and save our school from what is really an existential [state] funding crisis.” She additionally pointed to the finish of pandemic-era federal reduction as a key issue in the college’s present predicament. “There was kind of a short-term reprieve, ironically, in the COVID years because of special funding that was called ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief),” she mentioned. “That just created a moment in time where federal funds were able to kind of provide a bandaid. But just as in many areas of government, those funds are drying up and you’re seeing some of the funding problems emerge that were underlying.” Smith additionally famous that significant change at the state legislative degree is required to really resolve the long-term funding hole for small, distant island college districts like Lopez, although he doesn’t anticipate the state Legislature to behave in the close to time period.
The WIAA switch possibility — And why it received’t work
In the wake of the levy’s failure, some households explored whether or not Lopez student-athletes may commute forwards and backwards to close by colleges — Orcas Island or Friday Harbor — to proceed competing. Initial conversations led district officers to consider {that a} “hardship” switch is perhaps potential if Lopez eradicated its sports program. After reaching out to WIAA at the highest ranges of eligibility overview, Orcas Island acquired a definitive reply: It wouldn’t qualify.
WIAA guidelines acknowledge particular person hardships solely — the elimination of a whole college’s sports program doesn’t qualify. As Smith defined, “Having an entire group of students denied sports is not considered a hardship. Having an individual student denied playing a sport would be.” Smith mentioned he needed to inform affected households straight: Transferring to compete subsequent 12 months shouldn’t be accessible to them as a bunch.
More than a recreation
For many on Lopez Island, the stakes go effectively past the taking part in subject. Lobo sports are woven into the id of the island and the material of its college. “Imagining the island without Lobo sports is impossible to imagine,” Smith mentioned. “It’s such an important part, not only of their high school experience, but of their future and of the community’s pride.”
Beyond pleasure and neighborhood spirit, athletics form college students’ futures. Cutting sports, Smith warned, would doubtless speed up a decline in enrollment — and enrollment drives funding. “I think it would be the beginning of the end,” he mentioned. “Our enrollment would spin down and I’d be very concerned about the future of the school.” Poole echoed that alarm. “If the school were to eliminate sports, students would be motivated to attend school elsewhere,” she mentioned. “And that dip in enrollment could be the last nail in the coffin of the Lopez school.”
Looking forward: November is crucial
Smith made clear that November represents the subsequent — and maybe final sensible — window to place a levy earlier than voters in time to supply sustainable athletic funding. Without a November levy, a funding hole of not less than a 12 months would observe. “It’s crucial that we pass a levy in November to support Lopez sports,” he mentioned.
In the meantime, neighborhood members wishing to assist Lopez student-athletes can donate by the Lopez Island Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3). Donations will be made on-line at lopezeducation.org/donate or by mailing a verify to Lopez Island Education Foundation, P.O. Box 13, Lopez Island, WA 98262. The deadline to have funds in place is May 27.