Early feedback on bond proposals heard at MLSD forum

MOSES LAKE — The process of developing a bond package to float to Moses Lake School District (MLSD) voters next February is ramping up, as a handful of citizens provided feedback to the School Board on its three proposals at the district’s open forum Thursday.

The community forum was the MLSD’s fourth of the year. The district endeavors to hold one open forum per month to allow parents and other community members the opportunity to participate in open discussions about issues and topics pertaining to Moses Lake schools.

Predictably, the primary topic of discussion during the forum was the bond package that the district is in the process of developing. The MLSD is planning to run a bond measure on the February 2017 special elections ballot that, if approved, would fund the construction of some type of school facilities.

Already this year, the School Board has studied the issue multiple times and has developed three primary proposals that it will present to community members in the coming months at public symposium events, which are yet to be scheduled. The proposals include the construction of a new 1,600-student high school, building an 800-student wing onto the existing Moses Lake High School (MLHS), and building a 1,600-student junior high school campus for grades eight and nine.

School Board directors Vicki Groff and Eric Stones facilitated Thursday’s forum, which drew a small group of about a dozen parents, staff members and community members. They answered questions about the bond process and responded to critiques and suggestions from the forum’s attendees.

“We will make a determination within the next couple months of which one we want to float (to the community) to get a bond,” Stones said.

One citizen who wished not to be named took issue with the prospect of an enclosed athletic facility being included in a bond package. The idea was floated as a possibility to be included on the proposal that involved adding a new wing of classrooms onto MLHS. The proposal was brought to the board by School Board President Kevin Donovan, and the athletic facility portion of the idea was brought up as a possibility for consideration during the bond development process. Nothing is set in stone, as each proposal will be explored in detail by the School Board and the community.

The resident said whether the enclosed athletic facility was merely an idea or is being seriously considered, “perception is reality” and that conversation could skew the perception of the School Board’s process for some voters.

The same person also floated the idea to Groff and Stones that the School Board should pursue a more privatized process of getting schools built to avoid state rules mandating the use of union employees and the associated prevailing wage costs.

Groff and Stones both explained that the laws in place for securing bond financing for the construction of public schools are very specific and the School Board is obligated to follow those procedures, even though prevailing wage rates are very high.

“There’s a number of things that, frustrating as it may be, we are obligated to acknowledge those and to follow the law,” Groff said.

Stones added that district officials from Moses Lake and other districts in Washington have advocated for changes to the prevailing wages that are paid to union workers for projects like these. He said that work continues to be done, but the state has not amended its prevailing wage rates, so the MLSD and other districts are still obligated to pay those costs.

“The fact of the matter is that when we start looking at what are we going to do for building a new high school in the next four or five years or whatever school facility we are going to do, that probably is not going to be changed realistically by then,” he said.

Heidi Bratsch, an MLSD parent, said she was in favor of building an addition to MLHS or building a junior high school campus and reconfiguring the district’s grade levels. She said she and others have lost trust in the district and told Groff and Stones that she hopes the final bond package that is proposed to the community is something that will regain trust.

Groff and Stones thanked all the attendees for the feedback and encouraged the public to be involved in the symposium events in the coming months. Groff said each of the three proposals will be discussed and explored at a granular level and the School Board hopes to get a great depth of feedback before it finalizes a proposal for voters.