South Hill
residents and parents of Lowell Elementary School will be dependent on the
upcoming Nov 5 election to see if renovations to the school will be funded by a
$160 million school bond that is being proposed.
The bond is
proposed to all Whatcom residents and, if passed, would use a property tax to
fund a $160 million bond to improve some of Bellingham’s public schools,
including Lowell.
Six million
of the bond would go to Lowell Elementary to fund an elevator, as well as
renovations to the gym and cafeteria.
The current
bond rate is 90 cents per every $1000 of assessed value, one of the lowest in
Washington State, according to J.Marie Niche, the current communications
manager of the Bellingham School District.
If the bond passes, the bond rate would rise 49 cents for every $1000 of
assessed value. That means that a homeowner with an assessed value of $400,000
would see a $196 tax increase starting in 2014.
The bond
would last till 2019, going down a couple cents each year. By 2019 the rate
would sit at $1.16, which is 26 cents above the current rate.
However,
opponents of the bond believe the bond was not worked out well enough, and will
increase class sizes, create larger elementary schools and impact the community
surrounding the schools.
Paul James, a
parent of a Lowell Elementary student said he voted against the bond for the
first time. He said that the budget was not responsibly worked out, and that funding
is not going to priority renovations.
“There are these
special interests projects that are a significant amount of money that
shouldn’t be prioritized.” “Millions of dollars to do astro-turf tracks? That’s
not my priority,” James said.
The Bond was
created by a Facilities Planning Task Force that is made up of teachers,
parents and community members, according to Niche. By state law, a bond cannot
be used for the day to day operations of the schools. This means the bond could
not fund things like teacher salaries, but must be used for other things like
infrastructure.
Linda
Denadel, a parent of a 3rd grade at Bellingham Christian Elementary
said that she is concerned about where exactly the money from the bond would
go.
“As long as
the funds get used for what they are supposed to be allocated for, then it’s
probably a good thing,” said Denadel. “Money gets moved around in a lot of
cases and doesn’t always go for what you voted in for.” My main concern is
making sure they are actually allocated for what they are for.”
One of the
fears some parents have is that this is the first step in condensing the
Bellingham public schools into larger ones.
James said
that on any given day, you can see all the parents of Lowell chatting together
after school while their kids play. He said that with larger schools, you would
lose that sense of community.
Tom Goetzl, another parent of
Lowell school and said he voted yes on the bond, but is concerned about how
Washington State funds its school. He would like to see more funds going on in
the actual operation of the schools.
“I don’t care what the schools look like, I want quality
education going on inside.”
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