By John McCallum
Editor 

To rerun, or not to rerun

Cheney School Board hears from both sides of $44.9 million high school bond vote

 

Last updated 3/9/2015 at 11:37am

John McCallum

Cheney High School senior Kayla Lemelin (at podium) addressed the school board at last Wednesday's meeting along with fellow students Samantha Abbott, Robyn Ross and ASB president Mary McCombie about the lack of space at the school.

If the number of those testifying and amount of applause is any indication, most of those attending the Feb. 25 Cheney School Board meeting enthusiastically agree that the board should rerun the just under $44.9 million high school construction bond that failed to receive the needed supermajority required for passage in the Feb. 10 special election.

But while most of the estimated 200 people in attendance at Salnave Elementary School's commons area supported rerunning the measure, there were a number of individuals who asked the board to reconsider, and look for better, less costly ways to provide more learning spaces and amenities at the 48-year-old school. If passed, the bond would increase property taxes in the district by 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, meaning the owner of a $166,000 house in Cheney would see a gross monthly increase of $10.43.

Of the 25 individuals who spoke at the meeting, 21 were in favor of rerunning the bond. All of these have direct ties to the school district: eight were employees - including a representative from the district's architect NAC Architecture - while seven were students, four were parents of current or former students and two were former employees.

Those in favor of re-running the bond ticked off a number of reasons for doing so, ranging from safety to overcrowding to the excellence of instruction. Several said the overcrowding at the high school has been a problem for almost 20 years.

High school leadership instructor Allison Tobler said she was a freshman at CHS in 1994 when the last remodel was done. She spoke to the lack of classrooms, saying when she returned as a teacher 14 years ago, she was one of the ones without a homeroom, pushing a cart with her materials from classroom to classroom.

"Obviously, it hasn't gotten any better," she said.

Tobler told the board that as a one-time basketball coach, cheerleading coach and dance instructor she was often taking her students to different facilities to practice. As the instructor of a growing leadership program - 40 current students with 60 signed up next year - she faces the same issue.

"We are literally teaching that class out of what was a storage room," Tobler said.

Current teacher Julie Esquibel echoed Tobler's comments on space. A teacher in Cheney since 1991, Esquibel recalled what happened when they moved into the remodeled high school in 1994.

"We were too big when we moved in," she said. "We immediately had roaming teachers when we moved in. Immediately."

Esquibel said all children deserve a better learning environment, something she said Cheney High students are not receiving.

The issue of crowded hallways, cafeteria and a lack of athletic practice space also came up

Logan Pratt, CHS senior and associated student body vice president, said it takes him three minutes to walk the equivalent of 50 yards during class changes. Pratt also said students can't eat in the cafeteria due to a lack of seating, taking to the hallways and classrooms to eat.

"We see it every day, we live it," current teacher Tom Stralser said of the overcrowding.

Current teacher Karen Runyon spoke emphatically on the need for safety in the building. She also spoke of the need for a $13.1 million performing arts complex as part of the bond proposal, addressing concerns by opponents that the facility wouldn't be used much.

"Would we say that about the football field?" Runyon asked, listing other athletic facilities. "No. We need the performing arts center, and I bet it will be used more than anybody can even imagine."

Former district employee Shannon Lawson said learning excellence doesn't happen when teachers are pushing carts around hallways, students can't eat in the cafeteria and don't have their basic safety needs met.

"We used to have a sign in our board room (at the Fisher Building) that said 'we all report to the children,'" Lawson said. "I know we don't meet there any more, but I want to keep that visual in mind because everyone of us in this community reports to the children because these children come back and they come back and do great things for our community and they go out and represent Cheney in many positive ways."

Many of those favoring re-running the bond echoed the comments of co-chair of the Committee for the Support of Good Schools Richard Harris that it was more about a lack of voter turnout - only 37 percent voted in the district - than it was no votes that led to the bonds failure.

Harris said he looked up voter turnout numbers that revealed one-third of registered voters with children in the district voted.

"Two-thirds of eligible voters with kids in our district did not vote at all," he said. "There are a lot of yes votes that we missed out on. I think we can get them. It is necessary to do this bond."

Need more thought

Those who asked the board to wait on rerunning the bond agreed with those in favor that something needs to be done about conditions at the high school, especially when it comes to classroom space and hallways. The biggest concern for most of them, however, was the money involved.

Parent Allison Probert said she knows of Airway Heights families whose finances are too tight to enable them to afford a tax increase. She suggested running a smaller bond to address immediate overcrowding needs as well as security, and then coming back when state matching funds are available to discuss adding a performing arts complex and more athletic facilities. It was an approach shared by Mark Posthuma.

"I think we're all in agreement where we're saying the high school is at a place where it is inadequate," he said. "We have a lot of yeses, but (we're) not hearing from those who voted no. And I think that is a challenge that needs to actually be addressed."

Posthuma noted public construction costs appear to be about three times higher than costs for private work. He would like to see a more competitive bidding process, including bidding for architectural design work.

District resident Bill Johns has been an outspoken critic of the current bond, and has publicly proposed that the adding classroom space and improving security can be done for about $11.6 million, with other arrangements made for performing arts and athletics.

"It takes care of the things that are absolutely necessary, instead of the $44 million," he said. "This will give (us) some time to get a long-range plan so we can see what's out there."

Johns also noted there will be other taxes on the April ballot, as well as future taxes being proposed by the state Legislature to take care of transportation and education.

Audio only file of Cheney School Board Feb. 25 meeting including public comment on whether or not to rerun the $44.9 million high school expansion and renovation bond. Highlight the link and click "Open link" or "Open link in new tab" in your browser.

Finally, former employee Carl Schwenn questioned the district's ability to maintain new facilities, noting when he was hired in 1984 there were nine maintenance workers and when he retired last year, there were 10.

"In the meantime, we doubled the square footage of buildings, we more than doubled the acreage," he said.

Schwenn said the district is "real good" at passing bonds for buildings that in the first two years of operation don't require much maintenance. Beginning in the third year, things begin to require repair and replacement.

"Why doesn't the district figure in the cost of maintenance every time they plan to add more square footage?" Schwenn asked.

The Cheney School Board will make a decision at its March 11 regular meeting on whether or not to rerun the high school bond on the April 28 special election ballot.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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