Schools ponder bond measure

Elementary and alternative schools have been the focus of a nine-month closure effort by Seattle Public Schools, their leaky roofs, garish carpet and slanted floors the subject of walk-throughs by district officials.

But virtually none of those schools made it onto a half-billion-dollar list of projects the district is expected to ask voters to fund over the next six years. Instead, voters Feb. 6 probably will consider renewing tax increases to pay for projects at middle and high schools, likely including a $77.6 million renovation of Nathan Hale High, a $73.4 million Hamilton International Middle School renovation, and a $125 million combined and improved campus in West Seattle for Chief Sealth High and Denny Middle schools.

Two measures are expected on the special-election ballot:

• The education, programs and operations levy makes up about a quarter of the district's general-fund budget. The amount of the levy hasn't been determined, but officials estimated it would be $402 million.

• The $490 million bond would pay for major construction projects across the district.

District Chief Financial Officer Steve Nielsen estimated taxpayers' annual property-tax bill for schools would go up an additional dollar per $100,000 of assessed home value if the two measures pass.

Also on the draft list of proposals: some kind of new building for The New School, a K-8 start-up in the Rainier Valley, and $20 million in water piping and air-quality upgrades in various schools.

The district will introduce the three-year operations levy and the six-year bond proposal at the School Board meeting Wednesday. The board will vote on the list of projects Oct. 18.

For the first time since the 1970s, the district wants to borrow the money to pay for projects with a construction bond rather than pay upfront with cash, a new practice district officials expect will save money by speeding up projects.

Seattle voters haven't rejected a schools levy in more than a decade, and in 2004, voters overwhelmingly approved capital and operating levies.

But this campaign is likely to have some challenges to overcome. The district has faced public criticism over the past year as officials worked to close 10 elementary schools in the 2007-08 school year. The board voted in July to close seven school buildings and plans to vote on three more closures Nov. 1.

And Initiative 88, a school-funding proposal of the Seattle teachers union, failed at the polls in September. A legal challenge to the initiative's companion measure, I-87, may have confused voters, said Peter Maier, who heads Schools First!, a group that campaigns for school-district levies.

The proposal would have raised the city's levy lid to help pay for smaller class sizes, music and art classes, all-day kindergarten and other school improvements.

At a public hearing last month, Seattle parent Melissa Westbrook criticized the district's proposed project list, saying it showed a disconnect with school closures.

"This list to me looks like business as usual, and we're not in a time and place for business as usual," she said in an interview. "We're in a time and place where we're closing schools. Why shouldn't it mesh together?"

School Board President Brita Butler-Wall said it doesn't make sense to plan work on elementary schools while some still face potential closure. "It just seemed premature and confusing to put elementary schools into this particular levy," she said.

A handful of elementary schools, including Graham Hill, Brighton and Maple, were upgraded through the last major capital levy, in 2001. That levy also paid for the reconstruction of Roosevelt, Garfield and Cleveland high schools.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com