Vancouver resident Ellee Nichols offers her support for the Vancouver Public Schools levy on the Feb. 14 special election ballot

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

I would like to voice my concerns about the upcoming Feb. 14 special election. As a recent graduate from Vancouver Public Schools and as a sibling of someone that attends school at Columbia River, I would like to urge voters to vote yes on the VPS levy. 

The school district is headed in the right direction when it comes to educating students properly, and up-to-date textbooks can help the future generations learn better and more accurately. Many school books I used were outdated (some even made in the late 1900’s). 

If we do vote for the schools to have more funding, we can help students get a better education. Not only this, but we can help our students to be successful in their lives, as schooling is important to every young person out there. It is how ideas get formed and passed around, how friendships are made, and we are making sure that our kids are educated the correct way. 

Many say to vote no on the levy because of things like pornographic books and one singular fentanyl overdose at school. However, one instance of these so-called pornographic books is a book entitled Gender Queer. This book is not harmful and should not be considered harmful as it helps students to promote and find their own self identity, something that students should be comfortable with and something that others should respect. In my opinion the only reason people want this book banned from the school district is because it might suggest to students that it is okay to be who you are, which in society’s viewpoint isn’t always a good thing. 

When it came to the fentanyl overdose, it was one case and the school staff didn’t know how to deal with what was happening. Most of our schools aren’t equipped with the right things to address these situations if they do happen, so when these cases do happen it is more likely that a student will die. This is not the school district’s fault as it was the student’s own doing to take the drug, which is something that we should look into by itself. How are students getting these harmful and deadly drugs? How can we stop it from happening? 

As a VPS graduate with family still in the VPS district, I hope that you will vote yes, so that these students can get the education that they need to be successful. 

Ellee Nichols
Vancouver

Ellee Graduated from Vancouver School of Arts and Academics in 2021. She is now attending Clark college and is planning to transfer to WSUV in the Fall of 2023. Ellee Teaches dance to students ages three to seventeen, and in her free time can be found hanging out with dogs or baking.

---

Also read:

• 
  Letter: The Charterist III — Concerning the powers of the Legislative Branch
  John Jay continues his Charterist series, arguing that Clark County’s legislative branch is structurally weak and lacks the resources to balance the executive, calling for reform in the next charter review.
• 
  Opinion: ‘Today’s Democratic Party is not our father’s Democratic Party’
  Editor Ken Vance reflects on how today’s Democratic Party diverges from the values he associates with his father’s generation, citing issues like taxation, gender policies, and shifting ideology in Washington state politics.
• 
  Opinion: ‘The Interstate Bridge project lacks billions in funding from both Oregon and Washington’
  Lars Larson criticizes Oregon’s funding decisions, highlighting the billions missing from both states for the Interstate Bridge replacement project and calling it a dead-end effort lacking Coast Guard approval.
• 
  Opinion: When bad policy fails real people
  Amy Harris says Vancouver’s failure to address street safety led to a fire that shut down a beloved immigrant-owned restaurant.
• 
  Opinion: Fantasy math – Why the CBO’s numbers don’t add up
  Nancy Churchill argues the CBO’s deficit math ignores key growth effects and revenue streams, calling its models misleading and politically biased.