By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter 

Airway Heights council to say no

Recommendation made in study session to draft resolution denying support for Cheney School District capital facilities bond

 

Last updated 1/12/2017 at 3:03pm



The Airway Heights City Council is preparing to take an official stance on the Cheney School District’s $52 million bond proposal.

During Monday night’s study session, the council forwarded a resolution with some changes, to its Jan. 17 meeting, declaring that it cannot support the district’s bond proposal.

The proposal, which will be on the Feb. 14 ballot, is a 21-year bond, assessed at 59 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value that will fund various improvements throughout the district. It includes $7.8 million for Sunset Elementary School toward the addition of 10 classrooms, a new gym, as well as site work to revamp the bus loop and a secure entryway, similar to what the district’s two middle schools currently have. There is also $250,000 for purchasing land for a future school.

The resolution states that while council recognizes the district’s attempt to accommodate infrastructure concerns at Sunset Elementary School, there are several reasons it cannot support the proposal, including a lack of a long-range facilities plan to accommodate the city’s need for a middle school and high school, and the issue that Airway Heights students are bussed to schools south of Interstate 90.

Mayor Kevin Richey said he and City Manager Albert Tripp met with district administration regarding the bond proposal and resolution. Richey explained that officials brought enrollment numbers to see what areas Cheney High School students are coming from. He noted that Airway Heights has 100 less students attending the high school, compared to those who come from Eagle Ridge. The district also cannot build a high school north of Interstate 90 because of the Joint Land Use Study with Airway Heights and Fairchild Air Force Base.

“From a business perspective it makes more sense for them to build a high school south of I-90,” Richey said. “They’re trying to solve 11 problems and they’re frustrated because they can’t address the overlying issue of putting a high school out here.”

“But if you propose a school in Airway Heights, people in Eagle Ridge and Cheney are going to vote against it,” Councilman Dave Malet added. “How do you make everyone happy with a new school? You can’t.”

Richey added that the resolution contains some inaccuracies that need to be changed before the council votes on it at the Jan. 17 meeting, such as the second-floor, 10-classroom shell at the high school. The district initially included the second-floor shell in the proposal, but removed it during the Cheney School Board’s Dec. 1 bond workshop.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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