Battle Ground Public Schools tries for another bond issue

The last time students in the neighborhood surrounding Glenwood Heights Primary School had a new facility, the Soviet Union was still a year out from launching the Sputnik satellite.

Now, the Soviet Union doesn’t exist, NASA’s Curiosity rover is live-tweeting its exploration of Mars, and Glenwood’s roof is leaking.

Battle Ground Public Schools is asking voters to approve a $224.9 million bond issue to replace existing facilities, remodel some buildings and make district-wide security and technology improvements. The district also qualifies for $61.6 million in state matching funds, bringing the bond total to $286.5 million.

The vote on the bond measure is Feb. 13. Ballots will be mailed Friday.

The bond, if approved, would pay for the following construction:

• Replace Glenwood Heights Primary School, Laurin Middle School, and Pleasant Valley Primary and Middle School.

• Build a new primary and middle school campus at the southern end of the district.

• Develop an Alternative Learning Experience school — the district’s CAM Academy — on district-owned land.

• Replace some buildings at Prairie High School.

• Renovate one building and the gym at Amboy Middle School.

• Replace flooring and improve student recreation at some campuses.

• Improve technology access.

• Improve security and safety at all campuses.

The district estimates that with Washington’s changing school funding model under last year’s McCleary plan, taxpayers will pay less per $1,000 of assessed value for schools than they are now.

Property owners currently pay $6.02 for bonds and levies in Battle Ground per $1,000 in assessed value, according to district documentation. Of that, 73 cents goes toward the existing school bond. That total is expected to increase to $7.01 in 2018 due to increases to the state school levy.

If the bond is approved, property owners will pay $1.60 per thousand in assessed value for bond repayments beginning in 2019, but with caps on local levies under McCleary taking effect that year, the total school payment will be $6. That means a homeowner with property valued at $250,000 can expect to pay $1,500 for schools in 2019, down slightly from $1,505 in 2017.

“We can go to the voters with a tax rate projected to be lower than it is now,” Superintendent Mark Ross said.

The district has cited overcrowding in its schools among its most pressing challenges. Battle Ground Public Schools is Clark County’s largest by space, stretching over the rural northeast part of the county. But 40 percent of its students are located in the southern suburban part of the district, near Northeast 119th and 72nd Avenues, school finance director Meagan Hayden said.

That’s left Glenwood Heights Primary with 800 students, hundreds more than the 484 it was built for, and Pleasant Valley, which was built for 993 students, with 1,139. More growth is expected as homes are developed in that area.

This will be the second time in 16 months that the district will have asked voters to approve a bond. Battle Ground voters rejected an $80 million bond request in November 2016 with 55.43 percent support. Bonds require 60 percent support to pass.

District officials say the ask is bigger this time because the cost of construction has increased since the district last asked for a bond, and because the district is projecting more and larger projects than in 2016. For example, previous plans penciled out the new Pleasant Valley campus at about 100,000 square feet, Deputy Superintendent Denny Waters said. That’s the current size of that building. Officials are now planning for a 125,000 campus to accommodate expected growth.

“We decided that wasn’t going to get it done for those campuses,” Waters said.