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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Medical Lake school bond fails

MEDICAL LAKE – Medical Lake voters decided Tuesday against a $19.5 million school bond which would have paid for a new elementary school, but voters in Cheney approved a separate measure to raise $3.6 million for new technology and several capital projects.

The Medical Lake bond would have raised $19,544,500 to replace the old Medical Lake Elementary School and new classrooms for the junior high to replace portable classrooms. The 50-year-old elementary school has electrical problems, no air conditioning, and inadequate fire-safety equipment, according to Superintendent Pam Veltri.

She said the school would need to be rewired, but there is a problem with encapsulated asbestos, a hazardous material, and the building wouldn’t be safe for students if this project were to happen.

A supermajority of 60 percent of voters was needed to approve the bond – which would have cost taxpayers $1.70 per $1,000 of assessed property value – but only 52 percent of the voters said yes. The district serves 2,200 students in the West Plains.

The bond would have raised $15.8 million to build the new school around the old one while students continued to attend classes. The old school would have been demolished after the students moved into the new building.

Medical Lake Junior High would have received $3.7 million to replace old portable classrooms with eight new ones added to the main building.

Voters in the Cheney Public Schools approved the $3.6 million technology levy by a margin of 57.9 percent to 42.06 percent. A simple majority of votes was needed to pass the measure.

The technology levy, which will replace a 2006 transportation levy that will expire in 2009, will cost taxpayers $1.60 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2009, and $1.55 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2010.

The levy was the first time Cheney Public Schools has asked voters for funds to pay for technology since 1998. The district has been getting by with grants and old equipment.

The money will pay for new desktop computers for students, the replacement of teachers’ computers, classroom presentation equipment, software support and licensing, server replacement, network switches, a phone system upgrade or replacement and an identification card system.

Capital projects will include new roofing throughout the district, automatic doors for better wheelchair access to the buildings, resurfacing of the 41-year-old parking lot at Cheney High School and new bleachers for the high school football field. A new warehouse for the district is also included in the levy – the district has been using the basement of the administration building. The small space has prohibited the nutrition services program from buying frozen foods or dry goods in bulk, which could save the district $25,000 to $35,000 in commodity purchases a year, according to the school district.