MARYSVILLE — The Citizens for Marysville Schools are kicking off their campaign in support of the 2010 bond and levy with a rally, Dec. 8, from 6-

7:30 p.m. at the Marysville United Methodist Church, located at 5600 64th St. NE.

Peter Lundberg, co-chair of the citizens committee, is inviting Marysville School District parents, students, staff and surrounding community members to attend the event, which he hopes will persuade them that the school district has kept the promises that it’s made and that it plans to spend any future monies prudently and with the best interests of the students primarily in mind.

After 38 years as an educator and 24 years in the district, Lundberg retired this year as the principal of Marysville Middle School. He acknowledged that the passage of a bond and levy measure in 2006 was the first since 1990, which he deemed the result of “16 years of poor stewardship” on the district’s part. By contrast, he pointed to the fact that Marysville-Getchell High School, like Grove Elementary, is set to open under budget and ahead of schedule which he cited as evidence of the district taking advantage of a down economy.

“As for the future, our key message is that we’re not raising taxes one additional penny,” Lundberg said. “It might even be a little less than what they’re paying now.”

Lundberg explained that the levy covers roughly one out of five dollars spent on the district’s operating budget, while the bond will allow the district to replace its three oldest school buildings.

“I know that $78 million sounds like a lot to spend in this economy, but every challenge can become an opportunity,” Lundberg said. “Supplies and labor have never been as inexpensive, so we’re getting more mileage than ever before out of our dollars. That’s where a lot of our savings on the Getchell campus came from.”

Lundberg added that the district now has building design templates that it already owns and knows are functional which should allow their contractors to build faster and yield further savings.