For the fourth time since early 2014, Sequim School District’s board of directors is asking area voters to approve a school construction bond.
In a 5-0 unanimous vote Monday night, directors agreed to put a bond proposal on a special election ballot on Feb. 9, 2016.
The bond would pay for several projects school advocates say are needed, including the building of a new elementary school and added classrooms at Greywolf Elementary School and Sequim High School.
“These are the most critical needs,” board director Jim Stoffer said.
Cost of this bond is $54 million, up about $5 million from a proposal that failed by less than half a percent — or a little more than 50 votes — in November.
The increase is a result of rising construction costs, according to Brian Lewis, executive director of business services for the Sequim School District.
The board needed to approve a proposal and submit it to the Clallam County Elections office by Dec. 11 for the Feb. 9 special election date.
“I think it’s our responsibility as school board members to represent what our community wants,” board director Robin Henrikson said.
In addition to the new elementary school, the bond would, among other things, pay for renovations and adding classrooms at Greywolf Elementary School, renovation of Helen Haller Elementary School to house Olympic Peninsula Academy, add six science classrooms Sequim High School, demolish an unused portion of Sequim Community School building and upgrade the district’s kitchen and maintenance facility.
A similar, $49.2 million bond in February 2014 received 6,691 yes votes to 5,026 no votes — 57.11 percent to 42.89 percent — but fell short of the required 60 percent supermajority. In November, the bond proposal earned 7,193 yes votes — or 59.55 percent — to 4,885 no votes (40.45 percent).
“We did not fail (the previous bond vote) — we just did not meet the 60 percent super majority,” Colleen Robinson, president of Citizens for Sequim Schools, said Monday night. “The community wants this.”
Prior to the vote, the board received comments from a number of community leaders and citizens urging them to put a proposal to voters in February.
“This is a very important investment that is much needed,” Eric Lewis, CEO of Olympic Medical Center, said. “If we delay, it will only increase costs.
“Virtually every day I’m recruiting doctors and other (health care) professionals. They really care about local schools. In fact, it’s the No. 1 thing.”
Robinson and Brandino Gibson, president and vice president of Citizens for Sequim Schools, reiterated their group’s commitment to passing Sequim’s school construction bond efforts. Gibson noted that 17 of the district’s 32 precincts topped the 60 percent mark in the November election, up from nine in the previous bond vote.
“We haven’t quit. We’re not done,” Gibson said.
By the numbers, funding options
If passed, November’s bond proposal would set the tax rates at $2.11 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for both Sequim’s construction bond and operations levy. If passed in February of 2016, the new bond proposal would cost taxpayers $2.16 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, Lewis said.
The school bond would cost local taxpayers about $138.14 more per year, based on the median property value of a $246,000 home.
Lewis pointed out that the $2.16 rate still is significantly below the statewide average ($4.36), schools with similar assessed property values ($4.38) and school districts of similar size ($4.51 for schools of 2,000-2,999 students).
It’s also lower than each school district in Clallam and Jefferson counties except for Brinnon (about $1) and Queets-Clearwater (about $1.50).
Lewis said the district has applied for a class size reduction grant that is designed to reduce the burden of construction costs on local school districts. The grant, a component of a program legislators developed earlier this year, would augment bond funds as much as $1.7 million.
“We don’t want to pass this up,” Lewis said. “It’s rare to get a chance for local matching funds for construction projects.”
That, and about $4.3 million in state matching funds available to the Sequim School District for demolishing an unused portion of the Sequim Community School, are contingent upon the district spending money toward construction, Lewis said.
Declining to delay
Lewis said a bond proposal brought to voters sooner than later is preferable for three key elements: projected enrollment at the elementary school, escalation of construction costs and rising interest rates.
The district is projecting about 144 more students at the elementary grade levels by 2023, Lewis said. That figure is based on birth rates in Clallam County and does not project any general growth in the Sequim area.
Several nearby districts — Chimacum, Port Townsend, Central Kitsap and South Kitsap — all have construction bond proposals in February 2016, which could drive up construction bids, Lewis said. BLRB Architects, the company Sequim’s school district is using for bond planning, and the Construction Services Group/Educational Service District 112 — a provider of construction-related services exclusive to school agencies — project school construction costs to rise 4 to 11 percent annually, Lewis said.
Waiting until November 2016 would add a projected $5 million to the current bond proposal, Lewis said, and about $4 million in interest.
“Every delay adds additional cost,” he said.
Other board action
School directors agreed to re-elect Bev Horan as the board’s president and Henrikson as vice president. Stoffer was elected the board’s legislative representative.
The board also:
• accepted a letter of resignation from Anita Morris, Olympic Peninsula Academy learning coach, and another from bus driver Robin Fling;
• offered a kindergarten paraeducator position to Stephanie Doran for the 2015-2016 school year
• approved a contract for services with the Family Healing Center Corporation for Helen Haller’s Elementary School’s Title I Parent Program
Coming up
The next Sequim School Board meeting is 6 p.m., Monday, Dec. 21 — the final meeting of the 2015 calendar year.
