Education at Mount Si High School is going to change, regardless of the outcome of the Feb. 10 special election.
A $244.4 million bond is on the ballot for Snoqualmie Valley School District voters, and almost $190 million of it, the largest piece, is a proposed remodel of the district’s only traditional high school.
According to Mount Si Principal John Belcher, though, the changes to education that a new high school would facilitate, have already started, and a “yes” vote would smooth the way.
Speaking on a panel at the Jan. 16 Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce lunch, Belcher described the high school vision now being developed by a group of about 40 parents, students and staff at the school.
“We focused on learning,” he said, and improving how students can do that. “We plan to carry on, whether the bond passes or not, but it’s going to be much, much easier with a bond,” he added.
Many of the district’s challenges will become easier if the proposed bond passes:
A sixth elementary school, already designed and permitted, would address the district’s immediate capacity needs at the K-5 level, by the fall of 2016. More elementary capacity could be needed in the near future, with the start of full-day Kindergarten, or the class-size reduction funding that voters called for by approving Initiative 1351 in November;
A third middle school would be restored to the district within a few years, once some of the new construction at the high school is complete. Although no formal design work has been done on the new high school, much of the early discussion included a first-phase construction of a freshman-only building, freeing up the freshman campus to become Snoqualmie Middle School again and redistribute the grade 6-8 population among three schools;
A new high school with more and improved science lab spaces, to meet the increased science requirements of the state’s Core 24 curriculum, and an expanded performing arts space. Also part of the high school proposals are a separate freshman building within the main campus, and safety improvements throughout the building;
Repairs and improvements at every school building, and some athletic fields, to extend the useful life of the current facilities.
The panel, which included Snoqaulmie Citizens for Schools chairperson Kirk Harris, Snoqualmie Valley Schools Superintendent Joel Aune, and bond advisor John Gores with DA Davidson, answered questions from moderator William Shaw, publisher of the Snoqualmie Valley Record.
Shaw asked each of the panelists to discuss the role of public involvement in the development of the bond proposal, the necessity of the planned improvements, and how the bond’s tax rate would affect individual taxpayers.
Ballots for the election are expected to be mailed out this week. Election Day is Tuesday, Feb. 10 and all ballots must be postmarked by that date to be counted.
