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| Splash photo by Treva Lind |
Rosemarie and Christopher Bisiar of Greenacres visit with Central Valley School District Assistant Superintendent Jay Rowell at an open house at Liberty Lake Elementary School on Jan. 15. The district held three informational open houses about the bond and levy in mid-January.
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Cover Story: Bond built, in part, on lessons from defeat
1/28/2015 1:47:39 PM
Submitted photo
Superintendent Ben Small leads a groundbreaking celebrating the 25th anniversary of the district's early childhood program and its planned future home, the vacant Yokes building on Sprague. The facility would be remodeled with funds from the Feb. 10 bond.
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By Treva Lind
Splash Contributor
Listen and learn, a pupil often hears.
Proponents say leaders have listened and learned - in high volume - to blend the ingredients in a $121.9 million Central Valley School District construction bond before voters Feb. 10.
Supporters also think this package - without raising taxes - has the ingredients needed for passage, which requires voter approval by a supermajority of 60 percent. The district hasn't received such a nod since 1998, for a $78.1 million bond to rebuild its two high schools.
To craft the current measure, input came from more than 4,000 citizens. It took more than 18 months of planning, discussion, and analysis. The district also mulled concerns voiced during four failed bond requests, occurring from March 2003 to February 2011.
The 2015 bond package merges a list of critical projects districtwide along with safety upgrades, all while not raising taxes, said Marty Dickinson, co-chair of the Vote Yes Campaign.
"I think the No. 1 message here is the district listened to the community, meeting after meeting, to thousands of people saying this is what we want, but by the way, we don't want you to raise the tax rate," Dickinson said.
"I think if you look at the school projects, you'll see it's across our footprint. We're addressing seven existing schools, plus building a new one, plus doing some preliminary planning for a new high school. We're not just looking right in front of here; we're planning for years to come."
Residents also have urged infrastructure improvements for safety and secured-access features at schools that were built decades ago, Dickinson said.
"Chester, Ponderosa, Sunrise and Greenacres - all of those schools have significant safety issues," she said. "Layer on top of that, those schools are growing, so you have to be able to renovate and expand."
Other plans include construction of a K-2 school on land adjacent to Liberty Lake Elementary School, renovation and expansion at Evergreen Middle School, and upgraded and added space for the elementary schools of Opportunity, Greenacres, Chester, Sunrise and Ponderosa.
Plans also call to renovate the former Yoke's grocery store at 16 N. Progress for the alternative Barker High School and the Early Learning Center. Funds would allow early planning for a high school at 16th and Henry; acquiring land for North Pines Middle School; adding four Summit School classrooms at the Blake facility; and replacing a gym roof at Horizon Middle School.
Turning Voter Tides
Some voters who previously voted "no" or were undecided say they plan to say "yes" Feb. 10.
Rocky Hill resident Crystal Rodgers was part of a 2011 Vote No Campaign for the previous bond because that plan would have bused neighborhood grade-schoolers away from Liberty Lake to a then-proposed elementary school at Mission and Long in Spokane Valley. This time, Rodgers says she approves of the current bond's proposal to build a K-2 school next to LLES.
Under the new plan, LLES would shift to serve grades 3 to 5. The nearby recently built city ball fields would remain intact.
"I definitely plan to vote yes this time," Rodgers said. "Most definitely this bond addresses prior concerns. This time, it means they won't send Rocky Hill kids to another school, and it's going to expand Liberty Lake Elementary."
Although some concerns linger, she said they aren't pressing enough to pull support for schools.
"I'm still concerned about the high school that needs to be built," Rodgers said. "They say they're going to talk about it right now, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed."
Central Valley resident Rosemarie Bisiar, who attended a Jan. 15 bond meeting at Liberty Lake Elementary, was unsure about parts of the bond, but she said information gained at the session moved her toward likely voting in favor of the entire package.
"We had a couple of questions," Bisiar said. "Evidently, they aren't on this particular bond. We were concerned about the property for the high school, where there is no sewer and not the typical infrastructure in place, but they're only discussing it now. I'm inclined to vote yes now."
Amber Gilbertson has two young children and lives near LLES. She also came to view bond material.
"I'm actually really excited about this bond," she said. "This considers the growth we've had, to give every kid the opportunity to go to a school in their own neighborhood."
Liberty Lake residents Jerrol and Lori Olson also attended. Both are district employees, he as Ponderosa Elementary principal and she as an interpreter for the hearing-impaired, but they said the need for facility upgrades grew evident as their four children attended district schools.
"When our kids attended Liberty Lake Elementary, it was at capacity then," Jerrol Olson said. Their eldest was there in 1999. "Soon after, they added two classrooms that were immediately filled. There's been additional growth in Liberty Lake with no additional capacity."
Lori Olson said she and her husband grew up attending Central Valley schools.
"We see the need," she said. "Many of the school have not changed in years. The need for safety is a huge concern."
Other 2015 bond proposals
In addition to plans for the K-2 school, proposals would open up much-needed space for students at Greenacres Middle School, the district has said, because of plans to renovate and expand Evergreen Middle School.
The K-2 Liberty Lake facility would provide space for up to 624 students to attend their neighborhood school, rather than being bused to the Barker-area Kindergarten Center or to Broadway Elementary School.
Voter approval of the 2015 bond measure also would mean a state match at $58 million for construction funding, said Kim Pearman-Gillman, also co-chair of the Vote Yes group.
The local tax rate would remain at $1.96 per $1,000 assessed value, because the current bonds that paid for Central Valley and University high schools are about to be paid off. The strong messages from voters for no increased taxes while still taking care of school infrastructure came across loud and clear to the district, Pearman-Gillman said.
"The school district took the approach of looking at what are our highest needs and prioritizing those," Pearman-Gillman said. "They really looked at every piece of the infrastructure and also considered growth in the Valley. They considered what people want the most, while listening to people who say, ‘Take care of our schools but do it without raising taxes.'"
"That state matching funding keeps it at the same tax rate," she added. "If we don't pass our bond, we won't get that $58 million. Schools help grow our economy. It's a top factor for people choosing to locate a business and among people who are looking for places to live."
The Vote Yes group is sponsored by a nonprofit called Central Valley Citizens for Education. As of mid-January, opposition groups to the bond - if any - weren't highly visible or vocal. Past objections ranged from fighting a tax increase to arguing that former plans were overwhelming.
Dickinson said the 2015 bond proposal gives answers to past and future concerns.
"This bond does what the community told us they wanted," she said. "It comes down to we need safer facilities. We have to address a growing Central Valley School District. We've grown by more than 10 percent the last 10 years, and this addresses what we will need to accommodate students based on projections of another 900 students in coming years."
"We have done our planning and homework about what we really need in the district from a facility-planning perspective, and from what's the appetite of voters. We're simply asking them, ‘Please renew the tax rate.'"
• • •
Bond FAQs
The following answers to frequently asked questions regarding the bond were provided by Melanie Rose, Central Valley School District spokeswoman or taken from ones already listed on the district website at www.cvsd.org.
Why a K-2 school in Liberty Lake?
Our enrollment projections tell us we need to add elementary capacity for 624 students in the eastern portion of the district. The district currently owns two elementary sites - the property in Liberty Lake and the property at Mission and Long (west of Barker in Spokane Valley). Analysis of enrollment projections and housing growth tells us that without a new school in Liberty Lake, we'd be busing 300 students away from their neighborhoods. Rather than purchasing a new elementary site in Liberty Lake, our school board listened to our community's desire for a practical approach and decided to use the site we already own to build a new elementary school.
What about the kindergarten center?
The center currently serves all kindergarten students from Liberty Lake and Greenacres elementary schools. With the renovation and expansion of Greenacres Elementary and the addition of the K-2 school in Liberty Lake, allowing kindergarteners to return to their neighborhood schools, the Kindergarten Center would close, since it would no longer be needed. The school board will then consider options for the vacant building.
How were community concerns addressed?
Much has changed over the past four years in terms of enrollment growth and the community's desire to improve school safety and security. As our Capital Facilities Planning Committee worked to develop a recommended package of projects for the February 2015 bond, there were several important steps taken to evaluate and analyze the needs of our district now and into the future. We commissioned a comprehensive enrollment study (available online); the availability of the former Yoke's building allowed us to create a permanent home for Barker High School and the Early Learning Center, at a cost far less than building new schools, as well as creating space to house students during construction (see "Why Yoke's?" online); and, we engaged in a significant virtual conversation with our community about facilities planning using the Thoughtexchange process (see "Join the Conversation" results online). The construction bond package addresses as many of these needs as possible without raising the tax rate.
Will school attendance area boundaries change?
Yes. Voter approval of the bond will necessitate boundary changes across the district. School Board Policy 3131 outlines a comprehensive process for making attendance area boundary changes that begins with the formation of district-wide committee representing all stakeholders and includes public input. The process would begin following voter approval in February 2015.
Why not just add more portables?
Portable classrooms are a temporary solution already in place at nearly one dozen Central Valley schools. Portables are costly to purchase and install - up to $300,000 each. They are less secure than housing students inside school buildings.
How does the K-2 school tie together the property and ball fields?
The Central Valley School District worked closely with the city of Liberty Lake to develop the plan for the ball fields, with a future school in mind. Now that a K-2 school is planned for the vacant land adjacent to Liberty Lake Elementary (which will become a school serving grades 3-5), the ball fields will remain as an important community resource.
Is the district hearing much resistance to this bond, compared to the past?
We've been hearing a lot of positive comments about the bond proposal and have been working hard to inform and educate our community with facts and information. The bond proposal directly responds to the issues and concerns of most importance to our community, critical feedback we gathered through the Thought exchange process last spring. We've received strong endorsements from the city of Liberty Lake City Council (unanimous) and the Spokane Home Builders Association.
• • •
Do you support the Central Valley School District bond issue and why?
Question posed to residents at various public locations in Liberty lake
Yes, because I like supporting schools. I voted yes the last time. It will update the schools that need to be updated. - Ty Fowler, Central Valley resident
Absolutely Yes. I have three kids: one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary school. The schools have been overcrowded so long that we can't support keeping kids in Liberty Lake and they're getting bused out. We also need to keep up maintenance on schools that are falling apart. - Lara Tebo, Liberty Lake resident
I think so, yes, because if we don't have good education, you have to incarcerate them, and it's cheaper to pay to educate. I did work at a prison and there were a bunch of kids in their 20s there, but they weren't educated. - Leland Staley, Liberty Lake resident
Yes, because it doesn't raise our taxes. It's just a continuation of what we're already paying. - Jennifer Spinden, Liberty Lake resident
I'm a little iffy but I think yes. I'd be much happier if they were building a middle school there behind Liberty Lake Elementary instead of an elementary site, but I think schools are important. - Jeanne Fredrickson, Liberty Lake resident
Yes, because I think that's the only way the schools will improve, especially with no taxes added. I think if this bond doesn't pass, none of the other bonds would. This is a replacement bond. It's better for schools, especially to ease the overpopulation. - Sowmya Surapaneni, Liberty Lake resident
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