ML School Board approves construction bond proposal including second high school

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District voters will be asked to approve or reject a construction bond for a new, second high school, a new elementary school and upgrades to the existing Moses Lake High School. The current cost estimate is $135.3 million, but Moses Lake School Board members Kevin Donovan and Eric Stones said they wanted the board and administration to look for ways to lower the cost.

The current bond proposal includes $111.4 million for the second high school, $19.5 million for a new elementary school and $13.8 million in upgrades to Moses Lake High School. The district is eligible for about $9.4 million from the state school construction fund. If the bond is approved, property owners would pay an estimated $1.44 per $1,000 of assessed property value. District superintendent Michelle Price said that’s just an estimate only. The actual assessment will depend district-wide property valuations.

The bond will go to voters Feb. 14.

Board members had their choice of two options, and chose the new high school in a vote at the regular meeting Thursday. Board members Susan Freeman, Oscar Ochoa and Vicki Groff voted in favor of building a new high school. Stones voted no, and had earlier expressed his support for the other option, remodeling Moses Lake High School to accommodate 2,500 students.

As board chair, Donovan called for the vote. After it passed, Groff asked Donovan if he wanted to go on record. Donovan said it passed so he didn’t need to go on record. “I will support whatever bond proposal we as a board decide on, and we as a board just decided on option No. 1.”

Donovan said he thought a second high school was “a great idea,” but that he was concerned voters would think the price tag was too high. Because the bond is a revenue measure, it requires approval from 60 percent of the voters to pass. The district offered a bond for a new high school in 2015; it received 54 percent of the vote.