Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home School Board voted 8-0 Monday to apply for a state matching grant of up to $4 million to help repair and upgrade buildings throughout the School District.
If the state approves, Sweet Home voters would have to pass a matching bond to receive the state’s grant dollars.
The board has been discussing since October whether to apply for the grant and pursue a $4 million bond.
The bond could be structured depending on interest rates to maintain the current tax rate for general obligation bonds approved by voters in 2001, according to Business Manager Kevin Strong.
Through refinancing, the district has been able to shave a couple of years off the original bond. A new $4 million bond would likely extend the payments back to the original year for final payoff, 2029, at the same tax rate.
“I was wasn’t really going for it,” said Chanz Keeney, board member, mainly because he is conservative about taxes. “It makes sense. This is just an application.”
The district does have facilities that need work, and this would help out with that, he said.
While the district has yet to figure out exactly what projects the bond would fund, Maintenance Supervisor Josh Darwood outlined needs and possible projects at each school in the district. At each of them, he is looking for security improvements, with key-lock doors, in entryways.
At Foster Elementary, built in 1940, possible projects could include a covered play area, heating upgrades, a new front entrance, new windows, new hot water lines and new roofing.
At Hawthorne Elementary, built in 1953, building officials are looking for table storage in the gym, new windows, upgrades to the HVAC control system and new plumbing.
Oak Heights Elementary, built in 1948, has a new roof on the main building, Darwood said, but the Opportunity Center needs a new roof. The gym floor needs to be repaired. The building also needs new hot water lines, asbestos abatement and automatic gym doors.
At Holley Elementary, built in 1949, possible projects include a covered play area, handicap accessibility to the modular building, new roofing, reinforcement of masonry walls, new windows and new gym flooring.
At Sweet Home High School, built in the 1940s with additions in the 1960s, 1970s, 2003 and 2004, Darwood said, most of the older buildings need new roofing. Some 100,000 square feet is at or nearing the end of its life. It also needs repairs and upgrades to its drainage system.
District officials have been looking at Sweet Home Junior High School for the bulk of the bond. Suggested improvements there include replacement of the art building and cafeteria, security improvements, new windows, plumping improvements, roofing, HVAC repairs and moving the office.
The state is looking at budget cuts next year, and the grant funding may be on the chopping block, Strong told the board, but he expects to know more by the deadline to apply in mid-January.
Whether Sweet Home will qualify for the grant depends on what other districts that are higher on the priority list are planning to do. On the list, Sweet Home is ranked 38th among 197 schools. Several have passed bonds and taken advantage of the program already, while others have failed bonds and don’t appear likely to pursue a bond again.
Strong said it looks encouraging.
Looking for public opinion about a bond, the district sent surveys home with students and circulated a link to an online survey form. Monday morning, the district had nearly 500 responses.
The majority of them, 61 percent, were elementary school parents. Some 35 percent were high school parents, and 17 percent were parents of junior high students. Six percent were future parents, and 15 percent were staff members. Six percent were community members without children in school.
Among those surveyed, 93 percent supported a bond that does not increase the property tax rate to make security and safety improvements and to replace facilities and infrastructure that have exceeded their lifespan.
Some 71 percent said the district should keep the tax rate the same and accomplish as much work as possible with the available funds.
On a ranked list of priorities, 54 percent of respondents said safe and secure facilities were the top priority, while 15 percent picked facilities that help inspire learning as the priority. Twelve percent ranked as top priority improvements that would extend the useful lives of school facilities and minimize long-term costs to taxpayers, and 11 percent prioritized technology improvements. Five percent found facilities that are adaptable and flexible for future needs to be a priority, and a the bottom of the list was facilities that are symbols of pride for students and the community.
Going forward, the district will prepare the grant application and apply in January. The board will decide whether to submit a bond measure to voters at its board meeting on Feb. 13. If approved, it would go to Sweet Home School District voters in May.
Voting to apply for the grant were Angela Clegg, Keeney, Jenny Daniels, Jason Redick, Chairman Mike Reynolds, Nick Augsburger, Debra Brown and Carol Babcock. Jason Van Eck was absent.
In other business, the board:
n Accepted the resignation of school board member Nick Augsburger, who is moving out of the district. The district will accept applications for the position through Jan. 2 and fill it at its regular meeting on Feb. 9. Candidates must have at least one year of residency in Sweet Home and be registered voters. The position is at large and open to any eligible resident of the Sweet Home School District.
The board also announced Budget Committee vacancies for Liberty, Foster, Cascadia, Crawfordsville and Sweet Home.
n Hired Holly Ashcraft, district ESOL teacher.
n Hired Joni Ortiz, temporary science teacher at Sweet Home Junior High.
n Hired Rohan Cordy, temporary second grade teacher at Holley Elementary.
n Approved the retirement of Patricia Kagler, second- and third-grade teacher at Foster Elementary. She will complete the school year on a post-retirement agreement.
n Accepted a donation of $1,050 from Sharon Harris for the district’s homeless program.
n Accepted a donation of $2,000 from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund grant to support homeless student assistance programs.
n Approved findings of fact and procedures for contracting the Sweet Home High School Auditorium Seismic Project funded by a $1.4 million state grant to pay for seismic upgrades.
n Learned that Supt. Tom Yahraes is moving forward with plans to switch to a five-day school week next year. He is assembling a team to develop a recommendation for the 2017-18 calendar. Later, he will submit a proposal to the board. He told the board he has reached out to union leaders, and he expects to bargain with the unions in the spring on issues related to the calendar.