Olympia School District officials will roll out plans tonight for a proposed $97.8 million construction bond measure.
The bond request would go before voters Feb. 14, the same time the district hopes to get approval for a maintenance and operations levy totaling about $90.85 million during a four-year period.
Details for both measures will be presented at 6:30 p.m. during a special community forum at the Knox Administration Center in Olympia. After gathering input, district officials hope to present final proposals to the Olympia School Board at its Oct. 24 meeting, according to Superintendent Bill Lahmann.
The plans call for the construction of a new middle school; a new facility to house the Olympia Regional Learning Academy; and renovation projects at Garfield Elementary School, Centennial Elementary School and Jefferson Middle School.
The new middle school would be built in the district’s east side.
“We bought the farm that’s right behind Centennial,” Lahmann said. “That’s where our growth is and where our expected growth is.”
Both schools would share some fields, and once the new school is complete, students at Centennial probably would move into it while their school is being renovated.
“It really becomes a K-8 campus,” Lahmann said.
The bond also would fund about 50 smaller projects around the district. Many of those projects are maintenance issues that are overdue, Lahmann said.
They include a $324,000 re-roofing project at Boston Harbor Elementary School, $1 million to replace electrical transformers at Capital High School, and $187,000 to improve the exterior and air quality at Lincoln Elementary School. The bond also would pay for installing security cameras and replacing obsolete fire alarm systems at several schools.
“They’re all little things, but they’re all things that need to be done,” Lahmann said. “Our fund balance has really been impacted by the Legislature, and we just don’t have the money any more” for general maintenance issues.
If the levy and the bond are approved, property owners would continue to pay their current rate of $5.44 per $1,000 assessed value from 2013-2016, said Jennifer Priddy, assistant superintendent for finance and operations.
“With the M&O levy and the Phase 1 of the construction bond, we can keep the tax rate even and see no increases,” she said.
The bond’s tax rate would be 97 cents per $1,000 assessed in 2012, 86 cents per $1,000 assessed in 2014, $1.13 per $1,000 assessed in 2015 and $1.11 per $1,000 assessed in 2016.
At year five, the tax rate drops substantially, to less than 70 cents per $1,000 assessed value. And that’s when Olympia voters likely would see a measure on their ballots to fund Phase 2 of the district’s long-term capital facilities plan.
The district’s last construction bond measure was passed in 2003. It paid for about $89 million in projects, including improvements at Capital High, Washington Middle, Reeves Middle, L.P. Brown Elementary and Pioneer Elementary schools.
Lisa Pemberton: 360-754-5433
lpemberton@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/edblog
