School Board Approves Facilities Bond Measure for May Ballot
At the January 11, 2018 meeting, school board members thanked staff and members of the Long Range Facilities Planning Committee for the many hours of work involved in the planning process. The board voted to approve the Superintendent’s recommended Long Range Facilities Plan which will be used by district staff to prioritize and plan for facilities improvements for the next ten years.
In a separate action, the board voted in favor of a resolution to submit to voters on May 15, 2018 a bond measure for school facility improvements for a total project cost of $199.9 million.
The bond is necessary in order to take care of our existing school facilities infrastructure. It is designed to increase safety for students and staff, eliminate the use of aging portable classrooms, replace two inadequate elementary schools, improve job training spaces, modernize existing classrooms, and address critical maintenance issues such as leaking roofs and pipes, replacing outdated and inefficient boilers and removing asbestos floor tiles.
This bond will ensure that every student can learn in safe schools and classrooms and addresses the most critical facilities projects now so they don’t cost more in the long run.
According to a levy rate analysis provided by Piper Jaffray, the projected levy rate for a bond at this level would be less than $2.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. This represents an average monthly cost* of $40 for the average household, an increase of $7 per month. *Based on the average assessed value of $240,000
More information about projects included in the bond and next steps in the process will be available in the coming weeks.