By Mary Owen
North Santiam School District board members voted last month to place a $23 million bond measure on the November ballot.
“What inspired all of us was after the election four years ago when we were defeated, we still needed funding for our schools, to keep our students and staff safe,” said Tass Morrison, vice school board chair. “We knew we needed to take affirmative action on improving our buildings.”
The average age of district buildings is 60 years, Superintendent Andy Gardner said.
“The bond focuses on repair and upgrade of the existing schools, with no new schools being built by this bond,” Gardner said.
The district’s current bond retires in 2013, which means the school construction bond rate will go to zero. The last bond cost district property owners $1.70 per thousand in 1996, and has declined to $.68 in 2012. The new bond will cost taxpayers $1.26 per thousand. The increase from $.68 to $1.26 per thousand will cost a citizen who owns a $150,000 home approximately $90 per year.
“The focus on this bond is to maintain our current buildings and improve their safety, improve their energy efficiency and improve student learning environments within them, and preserve and extend the useful life of the buildings, which are a key community asset,” Gardner said. “All five district schools are scheduled to receive upgrades and repairs.”
Projects include: seismic upgrades at all schools; replace windows for energy efficiency; improve, replace or install heating and ventilation in all buildings; new heating system at Mari-Linn School; 30-year roofs on all buildings; construct three new kindergarten classrooms (two at Stayton Elementary and one at Sublimity Grade School); remodel the Stayton High School auditorium; remove and replace the 1967 portable classroom at SHS; new external paint on all district buildings and redesign Stayton Middle School parking and bus zones to increase student safety.
In its 2011 analysis of district buildings, the construction management firm of Heery and Associates concluded: “Existing facilities are well-maintained. Little or no evidence of negligence was found during our inspection tour. Finishes were clean, but showing evidence of age. Building systems were in good repair, but showing signs of age.”
“The bottom line is they told us we had maintained the structures in our buildings very well, given their age,” Morrison said. “But there are areas of severe deterioration in some of the systems that we can no longer afford to maintain. They’ve simply maxed out of their livelihood.”
The bond’s passage would make the districts’ five schools safer for students, with more efficient energy use and better environments that are conducive to student learning, and extend the useful life of the buildings, Gardner said.
“Regardless of the success or failure of the bond, the district is committed to maintaining its schools in each community,” he said. “Of course, the challenge with older buildings is to continue to manage the cost of maintaining and heating them. The district wants to be clear it is not posing any drastic changes should the bond fail. Rather, it is asking the communities to commit to keeping our schools as quality learning environments that they can be proud of.”
Morrison said the board is ready to prioritize needs and amount of funds necessary to take care of them. Members are revving up the campaign, and will be at all school open houses to answer questions and sending out mailers to inform residents of the importance of the bond.
“The district believes it can best preserve its schools through intensive long-range fiscal planning,” Gardner said. “Accurate long-term projections are the best tool for averting funding crises that would put schools in jeopardy. This year, in a difficult funding cycle, the district is proud that through fiscal planning, it has cut no programs, closed no schools, and is offering a full school year.”
For information, call the district office at 503-769-6924.
