Selah schools trim request, tries bond vote for third time

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of stories about bond and levy measures proposed for school districts across the Yakima Valley. The special election is Feb. 14.

SELAH -- Selah School District officials are hoping the third time's a charm.

After organized opposition defeated two bond measures last year -- one in February and another in April -- the district is running a pared-down version on the Feb. 14 ballot intended to keep property taxes at the existing rate.

If passed, the bond will let the district replace deteriorating facilities and better organize its building projects to meet student needs, district officials say.

Much of the $30.5 million bond would go to replacing Selah Junior High School. District officials also expect to get $18 million in state matching funds.

"This facility's outlived its useful life," Superintendent Steve Chestnut said Monday, walking around the junior high.

Poor insulation, water leaks and cracked bricks are among the school's problems.

Some rooms' heaters are so loud that teachers have to turn them off to be heard, he said.

Under the proposal, the district would go from five to four schools. In addition to a new junior high, ninth-graders would be added to the high school. Parts of Robert Lince Elementary School would be demolished and the rest used for office space and Selah's alternative program.

"Anything that could be considered extra, we dropped," Chestnut said.

Items cut from the previous $39.95 million bond include parking improvements at John Campbell Elementary School, technology upgrades at three schools and a cafeteria doubling as a performance area at the high school. The time to pay off the bond was extended from 21 to 25 years.

The changes lowered the estimated tax rate from $1.98 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $1.23 beginning in 2013. That means a homeowner would pay $123 per year on a home valued at $100,000.

Property owners are expected to pay $1.23 in 2012 on the existing bond for the intermediate school, based on information from the Yakima County Assessor's Office, Chestnut said.

The rates are estimates based on projections using existing property values and historic trends.

The levy rate is set by the Assessor's Office by Jan. 15, but the 2012 rate could not be confirmed Wednesday as Yakima County Assessor Dave Cook was unavailable for comment.

The 2012 rate increased slightly from 2011 due to falling property values, Yakima County Treasurer Ilene Thomson says.

To pass, the bond needs a supermajority -- 60 percent -- of votes cast.

In 2011, the more expensive bond proposal fell short twice -- getting 58.1 percent in February and 51.5 in April.

After the defeats, the district worked with a community group that included people who had opposed the previous bonds to draft the pared-down version, Chestnut said. "It's a prudent proposal. It's what we need."

Built in 1957, Selah Junior High School is in poor condition, according to a December 2011 report by NAC Architecture. The district's retained the company to design the new school.

Given its "deteriorating infrastructure, poor energy performance, numerous accessibility and safety deficiencies, and its serious organizational/planning drawbacks," replacing rather than modernizing the school "makes more sense," the report says.

Last year, a water main had to be replaced, leaving the office without water for a week, said Mark Galloway, the school's principal.

The report also calls Lince and John Campbell elementary schools "obsolete."

Campbell would be partially renovated to house pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Six classrooms will be added to the high school to make room for the ninth grade. That is down from the previous proposal's eight classrooms.

Feedback from voters has been largely positive, said Lisa Smith, chairwoman of Friends of Selah Schools, a pro-bond group.

The group has organized a voter-outreach campaign that includes direct mailings and paid advertising, including radio spots and a full-page ad in the Yakima Herald-Republic.

Unlike last year, there hasn't been an organized no campaign.

"Sometimes that can scare you," Smith said.

Some no voters are still not convinced by the smaller bond.

"They're getting better," Selah resident Ken Irvine said. "If they're knocked down one more time, maybe they can come through this and look closer at what needs to be done."

Retired and in his mid-70s, Irvine is still skeptical that the district is spending its money wisely.

Chestnut says it is.

The district's maintenance budget for this school year is $1.5 million. In addition, it has spent about $1.4 million on maintenance projects in the past 18 months, Chestnut said.

Based on NAC Architecture's report, the district expects to save about $100,000 in maintenance costs each year.

Chestnut is confident the state will provide the matching funds, which the Legislature has not cut in recent years.

Without the money, the district would have to wait to build a new school, but the longest a district has had to wait is four years, he said.

* Dan Catchpole can be reached at 509-577-7684 or dcatchpole@yakimaherald.com.