“The South Whidbey School District hit the jackpot in Tuesday’s election.Millions of dollars will eventually flow in due to overwhelming voter approval of Initiative 728, the class size and student achievement measure.Four million dollars over five years, said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Martin Laster, describing the impact of I-728 on South Whidbey.Spending an unexpected windfall is not a problem schools usually have to worry about. I’ll do my best, laughed Laster.Statewide, the initiative was approved by 72 percent of the voters. In Island County as of Friday, the count was 13,610 in favor and 5,706 against, or 71 percent favorable.The initiative produced more money for education by dedicating lottery proceeds to education, and by lifting the state spending lid. According to I-728 supporters, the measure returns a portion of state property taxes to local school districts to invest in reducing class sizes and providing increased learning opportunities for students. It also dedicates lottery proceeds to K-12 and higher education construction. The first disbursement of I-728 funds will be in the fall of 2001. Each school district will receive approximately $1,800 per student total over the first five years. South Whidbey has over 2,000 students.Laster said the school district will soon receive spending guidelines from the state, then we’ll plug them into the budget process. Reducing class size is a priority of the initiative, and Laster said that will happen on South Whidbey. We can do some reducing, but we may be forced to find some creative ways to do that, he said. Reducing class sizes will create a need for more classroom space, he noted.Also approved Tuesday was Initiative 732, which guarantees annual cost-of-living pay increases for teachers and other school employees. Laster said teachers are happy to see the support shown by voters. It’s good for the educational community — they’re very appreciative, he said.Another initiative, I-729, would have allowed the creation of a limited number of public charter schools. That initiative appears to be failing in the statewide vote, although Island County voters were mildly supportive. As of Friday, 9,805 had said yes to charter schools, while 9,174 were opposed. “