Nine Mile School District Has Plans For New Middle School

Thu., Nov. 14, 1996

By Jonathan Martin jonathanm@spokesman.com

Nine Mile Falls School District is readying plans for a new $7 million middle school in preparation for a February bond issue vote.

An unexpected population boom has forced school administrators to hold classes in libraries, counseling centers and on stages. Some classes have more than 30 students, and new course offering are frozen because of a lack of classrooms.

The school board has decided to put a $6.5 million bond issue on the February ballot and recently took an option on a 30-acre Suncrest site. The $125,000 site is about two miles north of Lakeside High School on Highway 291.

Administrators and concerned parents are polling the community for design input. “Our student impact is putting a lot of pressure on the facilities,” said superintendent Don Baumberger. “We just can’t give students the education opportunities we want because of stressed facilities.”

Nine Mile Falls has been a quiet, rural school district straddling the Spokane-Stevens county line. The school district has been growing by about 30 students a year as Suncrest blossomed into a bustling community on Lake Spokane. But more than 100 new students enrolled this year, and more are coming.

Almost 800 new homesites in the area are platted or in the pipeline. Property values in the school district rose twice as fast last year as the county average.

About 90 students are expected to graduate in June from Lakeside High. That class will be replaced by one of 139 students. “We think people are moving out of the congested area to get the rural feel we can offer,” said Baumberger.

If the bond issue is approved, property owners would pay about $1.50 more per $1,000 of assessed value. The bond would be paid off over 15 years. The school district is eligible for state help with school construction, but Baumberger said he doesn’t know how much Nine Mile Falls would get.

Voters approved bonds for the $6.32 million Lakeside High construction six years ago, but recently shot down a technology bond.

Regardless of sentiments toward the proposal, the district will be challenged to recruit enough voters to validate the February election. At least 40 percent of Nine Mile Falls residents who cast ballots in the Nov. 5 presidential election must vote in February. Election officials say almost 70 percent of Spokane voters cast ballots, an unusually high figure.

, DataTimes

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