Snoqualmie Valley schools measure is big; so are needs, supporters say

Snoqualmie Valley voters are about to see a whopper of a school-bond measure on their Feb. 6 ballot.

The $209.2 million proposition is the largest school-bond measure Snoqualmie Valley School District has ever put forward, with about half of it going to build a second high school to accommodate fast-growing student enrollment.

If the bond passes, the district plans to open the $110 million high school by 2011.

"A common reaction from people has been 'Wow, that's expensive,' " said Kathryn Lerner, one of the co-chairs of Valley Voters for Education, the citizens group working in support of the bond measure. "They want to know if we really did our homework, and yes, we did."

Almost all of the money from the bond would be used to accommodate the growing numbers of students coming from families moving to new housing developments in the area. Besides the high school, the bond would provide $29.6 million to construct a sixth elementary school and $28.5 million to buy land for future schools.

An additional $3 million would pay for 14 portable classrooms to be added to Mount Si High School, to accommodate students until a second high school can be built, and $8.6 million would be used to upgrade and remodel existing schools.

The district's bus maintenance buildings would get a $5.5 million renovation to keep up with its growing fleet.

The bond would cost property owners an additional $1.41 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, starting in 2008. For a $300,000 home, the taxes would amount to an additional $423 a year. Including existing school bonds, property owners would pay a total of $873 annually.

The district hasn't seen a school-bond measure fail in more than two decades, Lerner said.

However, in November, a Snoqualmie city proposition to build and run a community center and pool in Snoqualmie Ridge did fail. Some residents cited the upcoming school bond as the reason why they felt they couldn't afford to pay for the community center.

For the vote to be valid, at least 4,700 people — or 40 percent of those who voted in the last general election — must vote in this election. The bond must be approved by at least 60 percent of those who vote.

Snoqualmie Valley is one of the fastest-growing school districts in the state, said Joel Aune, district superintendent. Enrollment has increased by 6 percent to 7 percent each year during the last two school years, a sharp spike from the 1 to 3 percent growth the district had seen in years past, he said.

As of Oct. 1, 5,586 students were enrolled. In 2001, that figure was 4,493, according to the district.

Over the next 10 years, the district expects to see an additional 4,000 students enter its schools, and about 1,500 of those will be high-school students, projections show.

Mount Si High School is near capacity already, with about 1,500 students, Aune said.

The district is building a third middle school to accommodate student enrollment, paid for with a bond approved by voters in 2003.

Construction costs have also been inflating to the tune of about 12 percent a year, so it's important to start building the schools soon, Lerner said.

Regional, large-scale construction projects to accommodate the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., are part of what's driving up the cost, she said.

A district task force looked at alternatives to building a high school, including turning Mount Si High into a "mega campus," Lerner said.

But in the end, those alternatives would have ended up costing more, as the district would have had to remodel the high school, and several other nearby schools, to make room for the campus, she said.

Rachel Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com