Vote Yes Committee works to pass Byron levy

The Byron district is asking voters to approve an operating levy that will provide an additional $700 per pupil and a capital projects levy that will provide additional funding for technology improvements.

School board members and the superintendent are limited in what they can do to promote the levy. “The school district’s job is to inform the public about the vote,” said Britton Avant, co-chair of the committee with Tracy Lermon. “It’s our job to get people to vote. We can tell people to vote yes.”

The group has been knocking on doors, making phone calls, attending local events, meeting with local groups and just talking to residents throughout the summer and early fall.

The vote yes campaign has been going well, Avant said.

The Byron community is “built on people who value education,” she said. They know that Byron is strong as a community and town because of education, she said.

An operating levy was defeated in the 2024 election, but Avant says the district has changed.

“It’s a very different year than last year,” she said, as people feel the district is going in the right direction. There is strong leadership in the school board and with the superintendent, she said.

Several new school board members were elected in 2024, and a new superintendent, Nate Walbruch, began his duties July 1.

Avant was among those who ran for the school board in 2024.

“I ran because I wasn’t confident in the leadership,” she said.

Running for the school board, she said, gave her a new perspective. She got to know her fellow candidates, she said, and now has confidence in the way the district is moving.

“I have confidence Nate is doing everything he can to right the wrongs,” Avant said.

She said the school board also did everything it could to keep the amount asked for as low as possible, and transparency in the district has improved.

In speaking with people about the levy, she said it feels very different this year, and people who did not support the levy last year have said they will vote yes this time around.

There are always people who will not support a levy, she said, adding she understands why some will vote no because of their personal financial situation.

In addition to Avant and Lermon, Jason Blom has also been active with the group, providing the teachers’ perspective, she said.

As a stay-at-home mom, Avant said, she has had the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom. She has three children in the district, in sixth, fourth and first grade.

When in the classroom on an average day, she said, it is eye opening to see how amazing the teachers are and how they do more with less every year.

That’s really what spurred her drive to get involved, she said.

As election day approaches, Avant said she is “cautiously optimistic” but added that “we need every yes vote.”