Cheney High School bond round two

The Cheney School District board of directors voted 4-1 to rerun the district’s $44.88 million bond proposal for expansion and renovation of its high school on the upcoming April 28 special election ballot. The district previously ran a vote on the bond in a Feb. 10 special election, receiving 58.43 percent approval but short of the 60 percent yes votes needed for passage.

Since the vote was certified by the county election’s office Feb. 25, the district has instituted measures to gain public feedback. Superintendent Dr. Debra Clemens said the district sent a letter to the Cheney Free Press from board president Henry Browne asking for public input, held a comment period at the board’s Feb. 25 meeting and posted a survey on the district’s website and on its Facebook page.

Clemens said 577 individuals filled out the survey, with 77 percent urging the district to rerun the bond. Some of the respondents questioned why the district wasn’t looking at the option of adding a second high school.

Kassidy Probert, the district’s executive director of finance, said he estimated yearly staffing costs for a second high school at between $1.5 million to $1.8 million. He added that the district’s recently approved three-year maintenance and operation’s levy will come in at $9.1 million in its first year. Adding administrative costs of a second high school would “max out” the district’s annual levy capabilities.

As for construction of a second high school, NAC Architecture principal Keith Comes told the board building a school with a capacity of 1,000 students would run approximately $65 million, not including land costs and other site needs such as athletic facilities. There would also be another $50 million in costs needed to modernize the current facility.

The current $44.88 million bond proposal is part one of a two part process to add capacity for up to 1,900 students, leaving the building capable of handling estimated growth through 2027. The second part to modernize the existing building would require another $42.9 million bond in 2025.

Comes said by then the district should be eligible to receive $25 million in state matching funds. In bond information sent to voters the district also said it would likely need to build another elementary school within six years.

District officials believe the lack of voter turnout in February, just over 37 percent, along with a misunderstanding about the needs at the high school for expansion, contributed to the bond not receiving the required 60 percent for passage. Several board directors felt there had been a thorough public process provided for input about the high school prior to February. Director Rick Mount noted the district held five information meetings at various schools in the run up to the bond.

“If I took my shoes off I could probably count all of the people who attended all five forums on my fingers and toes,” Mount said with some frustration. “It’s hugely disappointing.”

Director Suzanne Dolle also said that the idea of adding a second high school had been discussed in meetings of the citizens advisory committee where the bond proposal was developed.

“The steering committee felt it wasn’t a viable option,” Dolle said. “It was a few years ago, but that’s what I remember.”

In casting the only no vote, Director James Whiteley said it was a “very difficult decision,” noting he has four children currently attending Cheney schools. Whiteley said he is not opposed to the project, but felt the timing was wrong for another bond vote so soon after the $79 million middle school bond in 2010, and was unhappy promises made to voters at that time to keep taxpayers’ total district tax rate under $5 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation proved untrue.

According to information from the Spokane County Assessor’s website, the district tax rate in 2014 and 2015 is just over $5.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Passage of the bond would ad 75 cents per $1,000 valuation to this amount, beginning in 2016 and running through 2027.

In asking the board to hold off on the bond, district resident Alison Probert said the board has a responsibility to students and to taxpayers. With many students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, Probert questioned if those families would be able to absorb a tax increase for modernizing the high school.

According to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public instruction, 49.5 percent of Cheney School District students were eligible for free or reduced lunches in 2013-14.

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