The Bethel and Franklin Pierce School Boards both voted on Tuesday night on Resolutions in opposition to the current Initiative 1240 on Charter Schools. The Franklin Pierce board voted unanimously, Bethel was a split vote 3-2.

During discussion, reasons given included lack of local oversight by voters and the already low funding levels that the school districts are receiving. Charter schools have the ability to form a school board of their choosing that is not elected by the local voters although they would receive tax dollars for their operation.

Bethel’s Board approved by 3-0 vote, to change the current 7-8 middle school configuration to a 6-7-8 configuration for Bethel, Cedarcrest, Cougar Mountain, Frontier, Liberty and Spanaway middle schools effective in the 2013-2014 school year.