Support short for CV bond
Only two of Central Valley School District’s 41 precincts reached the required 60 percent approval rate needed to pass the $75.7 million construction bond Tuesday.
Both of these precincts are located in Liberty Lake where bond funds would have built two new schools. Two older schools on the district’s west end would have also been completely remodeled, and state funds would have provided remodeling or improvements to seven other schools.
Spokane County election results indicate that districtwide the measure received only 50 percent of the 60 percent supermajority needed to pass.
This is the third consecutive bond failure for the second largest district in Spokane County. The district has seen enrollment jump 3 percent the past few years, roughly equivalent to one new elementary school full of students.
In March, a similar $55.2 million bond received 57 percent of the necessary 60 percent. A $25 million bond for a new elementary school in Liberty Lake and remodeling of three existing schools received 55 percent approval in 2003.
Central Valley resident Dick Solberg said this is the first time he has voted no on a school bond. He said he can’t figure out how Lincoln Heights Elementary in Spokane, which opened this fall, was built for $6.3 million yet the proposed school in Liberty Lake was estimated at $17.2 million.
“I know costs have gone up, but if you double that it’s still only $12 million,” said Solberg. “I think the administration of Central Valley School District is in an awkward spot right now. We’ve told them no, we don’t want to spend the money but they need the facility. I think they’re going to have to go back to the drawing board,” said Solberg.
Steven Neill and his wife also voted against the bond. “Our schools don’t need to be monuments to the school boards. They need simple buildings that provide protection from the elements, room to grow, have access to technology and to be maintained,” Neill wrote in an e-mail to The Spokesman-Review.
Anne Long, co-chairwoman of Kids First, a volunteer organization that campaigned for the bond, said she’s disappointed by the numbers and a little sad. “I know what this means for the community, but they just don’t want to pay the extra amount,” said Long.
“It (the bond failure) will have an effect on housing and businesses. If you have a district that can’t handle the number of students it has, then people will move elsewhere,” said Long, who is also a school board director.
School Board President Lynn Trantow said obviously they’re disappointed that the bond didn’t pass. “It would make life easier for our students and for our families, but it didn’t, so the next step is to start planning for next year. We’ll see what our projected numbers are going to be and how we’re going to service all the students who are going to come to our district.”
District officials say they will work with the community as they consider all options available to accommodate increasing student enrollment and facility improvements.
Some options the district has mentioned in the past include additional portable classrooms, busing students throughout the district, double shifting and year-round schools.