Forum held on bond, levy

MOSES LAKE - The need for new schools in Moses Lake was one topic on the minds of people at the Moses Lake Civic Center Tuesday night.

Voters will decide a $115 million bond and a three-year replacement maintenance and operation levy that would raise $15.2 million in 2013, $15.9 million in 2014 and $16.7 million in 2015.

Moses Lake citizens gathered at the civic center theater to hear more about what they were being asked to vote on.

The bond would alleviate crowding at Moses Lake High School by paying for construction of a new high school and would pay for two new elementary schools. Sixth-grade students would move to the new elementary schools to alleviate crowding at Frontier and Chief Moses middle schools.

The bond would also pay to resurface the high school track and tennis courts, replace the high school's pool cover and heating system, implement safety and health measures in the school district, and help the district meet other needs as it grows.

The maintenance and operation levy helps pay for services beyond what the state deems necessary for basic education, including music programs, counselors, reading specialists, literacy coaches, sports programs, extra curricular activities, librarians and nurses. It would also pay for all-day kindergarten classes throughout the district.

After presenting a video that showed an overcrowded high school with a worn track, an inadequate pool cover, and a cracked tennis court, Moses Lake School Board President Kevin Donovan and Citizens for Progress in Education Co-chair Julianne Dodds presented information on the measures and answered questions from the public.

Moses Lake resident Jerry Lane asked why the proposed levy is higher than the previous one.

"You need to consider what's happening in our economy and I'm not seeing any consideration of that," said Lane. "It's hard on our local businesses, it's hard on our seniors. Most of the seniors are property owners and they're going to pay big time for this and some of them can't afford it. They can lose their house."

Because the school district may lose $1.9 million in state levy equalization funding, they are looking to the levy to help make up the difference, said Donovan, later adding that because the assessed value of the school district's property has increased over the last three years, the district would be eligible for less levy equalization money even if the state didn't eliminate that program.

"Over the last three years, we've taken cuts to the tune of about $5 million over the last three years from the state funding," said Donovan.

The school district has absorbed those cuts through attrition, reducing staff positions by opting not to fill positions as people retire or leave.

"We have taken those cuts and we've had to simply weather the storm and reduce our expenditures in the school district," he said.

The levy allows children in the school district to get a jump on their education with an all-day kindergarten, said Donovan.

"Right now it is being offered at North and Larson because it's funded through the state," he said. "We made the decision as a school district, as a board, that education at an early age is critical and getting that all-day kindergarten to all elementary schools is a critical piece to improve the education of our kids, for all students."

Some members of the community expressed opposition to a new high school.

Jennifer Lane said she moved from a town with one high school that built an additional high school. An intense rivalry emerged between the two schools that divided the town and she wondered if the same thing would happen to Moses Lake.

Donovan pointed out that because the two schools would likely have different enrollment classifications, they wouldn't be competing directly against each other in sports. And while excess competition can be detrimental, he didn't think competition by itself is necessarily a bad thing.

Pete Staudenraus was concerned the school district would incur greater costs from a new high school, such as new administrative staff and building new facilities such as athletic fields and a theater.

Donovan said students at thew new high school may use some of the facilities at the existing high school.

Surveys of the community show that the Moses Lake community favors building a new high school, said Dodds. The new high school would be built to be expanded as the district grows, she said.

It's important to pass the bond now, while the state is still offering matching funds, said Donovan. The school district will receive approximately $10 million from the state for the $76 million high school, he said.

If the levy doesn't pass in February, the district can run it again in April, but if that levy fails, they would have to wait until next year to run it again.

If the levy doesn't pass, it will mean cutting programs like sports and music and laying off 150 staff members, said Donovan.

"If we don't have the levy, these things go away," he said.