Modernizing Mead High School District Asking Voters To Fund $25 Million Package For Reconstruction Work

Eric Stutzman stepped inside Mead High School on Monday morning and felt like he was still outside.

“It’s pretty cold in there,” said the Associated Student Body president.

A mechanical failure in a compression motor on the roof shut down heat to the science and business wings of the school, said Mead principal Mick Miller.

“I walked into a classroom at five-to-seven (Monday morning) and the temperature was 0.5 degrees Celsius,” Miller said. “It was so cold you couldn’t believe it.”

Maintenance started the motor, but frozen water pipes in the sprinkler system burst, flooding a classroom.

“You can concentrate in school,” Stutzman said. “You concentrate on getting warm.”

Monday’s problems point to why Mead School District officials are asking voters to approve $25 million for a package that would reconstruct the high school.

Last week, the board accepted the findings of a Citizens Planning Committee to modernize the school. The public vote is set for March 10.

Stutzman, a senior, will be long gone before construction begins, but he hopes future students won’t have to suffer through a frigid building in the winter and a swamp pit in the warm months.

“It’s pretty important that students be able to learn in a better environment,” Stutzman said. “I hope it passes.”

Time will tell if district officials can convince voters the package is worth voting for. Five years after being asked to approve a $28.5 million bond for Mount Spokane High School, voters are now being asked to give up $25 million for a package to reconstruct Mead.

Some voters say they aren’t sure if they will approve it.

“We (district voters) thought we were done with it after Mount Spokane,” said Sally Davis. “It’s not that we’re against what they want to do, but gosh, here we go again.”

Her husband, Jim, said the couple have seen the taxes on their house increase every year since they moved in 11 years ago.

They don’t want to see their taxes rise again. However, they’ve had four children graduate from Mead and will graduate a fifth from there in a few years.

“We certainly can’t knock the product,” said Jim Davis, “and it’s probably a selfish point of view, but we’ve just seen two couples who are friends of ours have to give up their homes near us because of increased living costs.”

A $25 million bond issue will be accompanied by the district’s regular two-year replacement operating levy. The district is looking to spend $43.5 million spread among almost all the district’s schools. That sum includes money from the district’s savings and matching money from the state.

The bond would result in a tax increase to property owners of approximately 61 cents per $1,000. A home assessed at $100,000 would see a tax increase of $61 per year. The length of the bond is 13 years. The maintenance and operation levy will replace the current one that expires next year.

According to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office, the Mead School District has $42.7 million in outstanding bond debt.

That’s just a fraction behind Spokane School District 81, which has $43.6 million in outstanding bond debts, though Mead district is home to 8,000 students compared to 32,000 for District 81.

The Davis family, like many district voters, thought leftover money from the Mount Spokane bond would cover repairs for Mead.

District officials said $18 million can be spun from the $5 million left from Mount Spokane High’s bond through interest collected and matching state funds.

But the total cost for revamping the school is $31 million.

“Eighteen million will replace just the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system,” Miller said. “That doesn’t even begin to touch programs.”

A Citizens Planning Committee put upgrading Mead at the top of the district’s priority list.

At a public forum last week, few parents who weren’t members of the committee attended. Only one parent voiced her concerns about the bond measure and reconfiguration of the school.

Mona Wright said she is a strong supporter of the district, but she doesn’t think voters have been given enough information about what effect reconstructing Mead will have on students.

“I don’t think people are displeased with what they’ve heard so far, but I think I’m hearing that we need more detail,” Wright told the board and members of the CPC.

The CPC held two workshops last month that allowed citizens to air their questions and concerns about the bond measure. About 40 to 50 people attended the question-and-answer sessions.

CPC co-chair Denny Denholm and other members of the committee said they were hoping for more people at the two workshops.

After those meetings, the CPC took concerns and questions it heard from residents and presented them to the board.

Denholm said he thought the committee did an exceptional job of relaying the concerns of citizens to the board.

Wright hoped there would be more interaction between the public, the CPC and school board before the board’s final decision to put the measure up for public vote.

“It just kind of feels like we went from discussion of this package to an actual vote without any re-evaluation or possible re-negotiation of cost,” Wright said.

Denholm - who has had two kids graduate from Mead and two who are currently there - said the CPC was operating under a tight time frame.

State matching funds are contingent on passage of a local bond issue this year. After 1998, the matching funds would be reduced by $3.7 million, one of the key reasons why the committee is recommending the March bond issue election.

The Davis’ said they didn’t participate in the workshops because they thought the school board’s agenda was already set.

“Some of us still feel that there is an agenda,” Sally Davis said. “The meetings are set up with a decision already in place.”

However, not all voters feel that way. Marguerite Busch said she plans to vote for the bond.

“I will absolutely support the bond measure,” said Busch, whose children have all graduated from the district. “I’m pleased with the education they received, and I want to see that continue for future students.”

Jim Davis said he will support the measure if he thinks it can be done at a reasonable cost.

“I guess we’re going to have to pay for it if we want to keep Mead at the top of the heap,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CITIZENS PLANNING COMMITTEE FIELDS QUESTIONS POSED BY MEAD DISTRICT RESIDENTS The following is a list of questions that Mead School District residents have had about the modernization of Mead High School and other district projects. The questions were directed to the Citizens Planning Committee. The answers were provided by the 18-member committee. Q. Why does Mead High School need modernization? A. While the exterior of the building and gymnasium are in good shape, the rest of the 25-year-old building is in poor condition. The electrical system is unable to support student computer needs. The heating and air conditioning system is outdated and subject to frequent outages. The roof leaks. Ceiling parts are no longer available. The plumbing fixtures, kitchen equipment and carpet are wearing out. Many of the building’s smoke and fire systems do not meet today’s requirements. Academic areas need extensive remodeling to support the current curriculum. Many classrooms have temporary room dividers causing noise problems. Many science rooms are substandard with limited preparation space. Specialty rooms in art, business education, drama and home economics are obsolete. Auditorium, counseling and conference space is inadequate for current needs. Food service facilities are inadequate. Traffic congestion is a safety hazard. Handicap access is inadequate. Q. When will construction begin? A. Construction should begin May 1999. Construction will take 20 to 24 months. Q. What happens to students during construction? A. The project will be done in phases, with much of the work to be done by the contractor during the summer. When school is in session, a portion of the building will be vacated for the contractor to work on. Students will attend school around the barricaded construction area. When one portion is completed, students will move into that section so the contractor can work on another section. Q. Why are multipurpose rooms needed at elementary schools? A. Multipurpose rooms provide needed space to support student and community functions. The space is used to provide cafeteria seating, student instruction, student activities and a meeting area that does not compromise the gym area for physical education and game events. Existing gyms will become multipurpose rooms and a gymnasium addition would be added to replace the existing small-sized gyms. The current gyms are too small to accommodate spectator and student assembly needs. Q.What is the difference between a bond issue and a maintenance and operating levy? A. A maintenance and operating levy provides local funding to maintain and operate the district’s day-to-day educational programs and activities. By law it must be renewed every one to four years. A bond issue provides funding to construct, equip and modernize buildings.