Middle-of-the-road project to be offered on February ballot
By Brenda Sexton
The Courier-Herald
When White River School District voters go to the polls Feb. 7 there will be two items on the ballot - a bond that will upgrade the high school stadium and supply money for technology upgrades throughout the district, along with a four-year maintenance and operation levy.
At a study session Oct. 26, the board outlined rough dollar figures, but will have definite numbers and a resolution ready for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 9.
The stadium, which will likely garner the most attention, is a middle-of-the-road proposal.
“It's not the high end and its not bleachers with a tarp over them,” said Assistant Superintendent Roger Marlow during the study session.
The proposal includes covered seats, ticket stations, some septic field and utility work, expanded restroom facilities, concession stand, team rooms, storage and work on the gravel parking lot. The proposal also includes approximately $760,000 in contingency funds to cover any inflation in prices. With escalating building costs due to hurricanes and the Iraq war, the board foresees a negative bid climate.
If district does not need to use the contingency, the money will either be returned to voters or used for other projects.
The stadium, which is proposed to be primarily a steel and aluminum structure, would likely have 2,000 seats on one side and 500 on the other. According to Superintendent Tom Lockyer, a lot of thought went into the proposal. He said the new league this fall will refresh rivalries with Enumclaw and Sumner. The benefits of more seating and additional ticket facilities that can channel and filter folks into the game faster will be handy.
“We looked at stadiums. We visited stadiums,” said Susan Leland Smith, the district's business manager. She noted a completely concrete structure would be too expensive, perhaps adding $2 million to the project. A top-of-the-line stadium can run more than $10 million.
The current proposal puts the stadium at the $6.2 million mark.
“This is strictly an effort to get to a number,” Lockyer said. “We won't get actual numbers until after the vote.”
The bond would also include $500,000 or more for technology, most notably fiber optic and wiring in areas not currently covered in the district. According to Marlow, fiber optic improves the district's speed and reliability to transfer information between schools.
Foothills Elementary, the transportation department, the Collins Alternative Program schools and Wilkeson Elementary are currently not on line. Wilkeson was not part of levy plan, but board members insisted, if it was possible, it be added.
The technology money in the bond will also be divvied up between schools to spend as they see fit in classrooms. Marlow presented a couple of examples - schools could use their dollars to purchase a mobile laptop computer lab or SMARTBoards for classrooms.
“Different teachers use technology in different ways,” Marlow said. “The money we're talking about isn't a huge amount, but it's a start.”
“We're not shooting for the moon, but trying to stay up with what's coming,” board member Susan McGuire said.
The maintenance and operation levy is a replacement levy for one expiring in 2006.
Levies, Smith said, are for learning. District uses them to cover state shortfalls in areas like textbooks, counselors, nurses, librarians, transportation, class size and special education.
White River's proposed levy will begin with a collection amount of $7 million and end four years later with a collection of $8.2 million. The collection rate for taxpayers will be $3.49 per $1,000 assessed valuation. That means the owner of a home assessed by the county at $200,000 would cost the homeowner $698 per year.
The last levy was approved at a rate of $3.58 per $1,000 assessed valuation. But, as the board pointed out, chances are slim with increased evaluation and growth in the area that even those predictions will be high.
Smith explained the actual collection rate for 2006, on a levy approved near $3.39, is expected to be $3.05. In the mid-1990s, White River taxpayers rates for schools were nearly $9, Smith said.
In the bond arena, currently, district taxpayers are paying $2.81 per $1,000 assessed valuation on existing bonds. If approved, the stadium and technology bond is expected to add 19 cents per $1,000 to that total and keep all bond rates under $3.
Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@courierherald.com.
