This election reporting is provided free to all readers as a public service by your locally owned Cascadia Daily News. Thanks for supporting truly local news by donating to CDN or subscribing here.
Meridian School District is going back to the voters in April with a smaller tax increase to replace its aging middle school.
In November, the district asked voters to approve a $75 million, 20-year bond to pay for a middle school rebuild, a new generator in Meridian High School, and repairs and upgrades to the Performing Arts Center and the Varsity Athletic Stadium. That measure received 53.11% of votes in favor, short of the 60% supermajority needed to pass.
Slated for the April 22 ballot, voters will now be asked to approve a $70.9 million, 20-year bond. The new tax rate is $1.35 per $1,000 in assessed property value, just a few cents lower than the original ask of $1.38. For a person with a $650,000 home, they’ll pay an additional $878 in taxes a year.
The new bond measure focuses on the middle school replacement and eliminates the other projects.
Despite the narrowed focus, there’s only a small difference in cost: that’s because rates have gone up, and assessed property values are projected to go down a bit, said Robert Kratzig, one of the district leads on the bond effort and assistant principal at Meridian High School.
Following the bond’s failure in November, Kratzig said the district sent out a survey to voters and heard from 74% of respondents that the middle school rebuild should be the priority.
“There’s a lot of multi-generational families that have gone through this building,” he said. “And they’ve seen the building’s old. It’s pushing 90 at this point. There’s been a narrative for a long time about this building needing some attention.”
Made up of three buildings, constructed in 1938, 1949 and 1974, the current facility shows its age, with water fountains that no longer function, a lack of accessibility and a cafeteria with two small windows. There are also safety and security concerns associated with the middle school’s layout, and the buildings aren’t up to seismic code.
(Charlotte Alden/Cascadia Daily News)
The district expects the construction of the new building to cost $42.4 million, with site development, expected inflation escalation, taxes and contingency making up most of the rest of the cost.
“We hear you,” Kratzig said, speaking to voters with financial challenges. “We know it’s tough out there … We don’t want to cause undue burden. We also have a need for the community, for the kids.”
Lynden and Blaine regroup after bond failures last year
Two other Whatcom County school districts have put failed bond measures to voters in the last year: Lynden sought a $157.5 million, 20-year bond measure to rebuild its aging high school and build additions at Isom and Bernice Vossbeck Elementary Schools, while Blaine sought a $70 million, 20-year bond to renovate its middle school and make other needed upgrades throughout the district.
Lynden’s bond measure failed twice, first in February with 51% in favor, and again in August with only 45.99% of voters in favor.
Lynden is forming a community group this month to consider the finances of the bond, Superintendent David VanderYacht said at a January school board meeting. He said from feedback, it was clear that the community saw the need for the new high school, but that families couldn’t make the finances work.
“It came back to that impact on the individual family, which is too high,” he said.
Blaine’s bond measure has also failed twice, garnering 54.7% votes in support in February, and 55.85% votes in support in November. Superintendent Chris Granger said the plan is to wait to run the bond until November, pending the outcome of bills in the Legislature.
Two seek to reduce the percentage of “yes” votes needed to pass school bonds: one would put a constitutional amendment to Washington voters to reduce the needed supermajority to a simple majority, while another would ask voters to reduce the threshold to 55%.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
