Yelm Community Schools will partner with Olympia Federal Savings to create an account to fund student scholarships and potentially restore programs on the chopping block.
Superintendent Chris Woods said OlyFed approached him with the idea this spring after the educational programs and operations levy failed and that he and representatives met again on Wednesday, July 17.
“They want to explore the idea of creating an account at Olympia Federal Savings, and they said they would lead by saying they calculated that they would have spent about $5,000 in levy funds,” Woods said. “What they want to do is to put that into an account for Yelm Community Schools, and they’re going to encourage other businesses and community members to do the same.”
Woods said he met with the bank, and he agreed with members of OlyFed that the best use of the funds would be for the YCS students. He added that the dollars collected could be used for scholarships for families or for student programs and activities that may get cut. He explained that OlyFed would make donations to the district for later distribution.
“Essentially what would happen is they would make a donation to [Associated Student Body] frequently as we request it for specific things, and then we want to make sure that we’re being very open and transparent about what that dollar amount is going toward,” Woods said. “They do an August penny drive, and they want to identify Yelm Community Schools as the recipient of that. That tends to bring in about $2,500. Then we’re going to collectively go out into the community and see if there are other businesses and organizations that would like to do the same.”
Woods thanked OlyFed for stepping up in the school district’s time of need as it faces a $8.25 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 school year and still has about $6 million left to cut in its reduced education plan.
“I commend OlyFed for thinking about the idea and thinking about our students and our community. We’re moving on the initial steps to make it happen,” Woods said.
