Cda Citizens Ask Schools To Tax Them More Speakers Support 4-Year Levy To Modernize Cda High School

A parade of concerned citizens addressed the Coeur d’Alene School Board on Monday night with an unusual request:

Charge us more taxes. Please.

One after another, speakers called on the board to accept a four-year, $20 million levy proposal that would allocate more than $10 million to modernize Coeur d’Alene High School.

Those comments contradict the findings of the district’s long-range planning committee, which recommended a two-year, $10 million levy that would have paid for about $2.5 million in improvements to Coeur d’Alene High.

“Can you remember the time when so many people have come forward and asked to be taxed more over a longer period of time?” Lee Shellman asked the board.

The board will vote today whether to ask Coeur d’Alene residents to accept a two-year or fouryear levy.

The $10 million levy recommended by the long-range planning committee calls for $4.8 million to build a new elementary school in the northwest corner of the city, $2.1 million for additions to Dalton Elementary, and $510,000 for playground equipment at seven elementary schools.

It allocates $2.5 million for renovations at Coeur d’Alene High School, a project estimated to cost more than $10 million to complete.

The committee had previously recommended a four-year, $20 million levy that would have given about $12 million to the nearly 30-year-old high school.

But committee members decided that would be a hard sell for Coeur d’Alene residents, chairman Jim Faucher said. The 24-member committee also concluded that a two-year plan would give the district more spending flexibility if emergencies arise, Faucher said.

“Some feel our recommendation is very wrong and is divisive,” he told the board. “I believe they are wrong. It’s time to bring the community together to solve the monumental problems we have. The winners will be our children.”

But some parents said they were fed up with Coeur d’Alene High getting passed over for repairs after they supported the plan to build Lake City High School.

“The flexibility issue is an excuse to come back and say, ‘Our priority is not Coeur d’Alene High School,”’ parent Julie Crandall said. “There’s more at issue here than our facilities. It’s our kids and the place where our school pride comes in.”

Regardless of which proposal the board approves, voters must support the levy by a 55 percent majority in an election May 19 for it to pass.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BOARD DECISION The Coeur d’Alene School Board meets at 6 p.m. today at the district office to vote on whether to approve a two-year or four-year levy proposal.