AS WE FACE today’s economic realities, we often have to make tough decisions. The Peninsula School District saw that last spring, when voters rejected a bond measure that would have replaced several facilities and upgraded several more.

That measure, which needed a 60 percent supermajority to pass, nearly got that support with 57 percent “yes” votes. But it failed, and much-needed improvements have been put on hold.

The school district’s replacement levy that will be on the special election ballot Feb. 14 is much different. Voters should support it for a number of reasons.

For starters, the simple-majority proposition would extend the existing levy that voters approved in 2009. That collection will expire at the end of this year. If it’s approved, the levy would collect between $19 million and $23 million during each of the next four years.

And as the school district has seen state funding dry up in the past four years, this levy source — once thought of as supplemental — has become increasingly important for core services. The PSD uses levy funds for items such as routine maintenance, all-day kindergarten, technology staff and equipment, as well as a source to help pay for salaries and benefits for both certificated and classified staff members.

The collection rate is more than reasonable, it’s among the best in both Pierce and Kitsap counties. In fact, it currently has the lowest rate in the two-county area — 20 school districts — at about $2.06 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That’s about $515 per year on a $250,000 home, or $43 a month.

Detractors who point to higher property values in Gig Harbor should take note that the PSD is one of only three of those 20 school districts which spend less than $2,000 per student, based on 2010 figures. Clover Park and Tacoma, for example, both spend more than $3,000 per student. Their respective collection rates are $4.79 and $6.38.

As for being responsible with its own finances, the PSD has slashed between $14 million and $15 million, including eight administrators, more than 30 teachers and a bus mechanic in the past four years. It also cut back a weeklong, all-day kindergarten program to four days a week, choosing to go that route instead of half-days.

In addition, every school district employee has agreed to take between a 1.9 percent and a 5 percent salary reduction this year and next year. It starts at the top: Superintendent Terry Bouck has voluntarily taken a 5 percent reduction in each of the past three years.

The state has raised the lid that each school district is allowed to collect on local levies, and a “yes” vote would extend Peninsula’s collection to 28.9 percent of its overall budget. Projected rates would be between $2.14 and $2.38, a slight increase in what would provide a community-minded district essential funds for the education we expect our children to receive.

The Peninsula School District and its board of directors have been excellent stewards of taxpayer dollars in a very difficult financial environment. Community members should respond by voting “yes” on their mail-in ballot before Feb. 14.