Sean C. Morgan
In the Nov. 6 general election, voters will decide whether to continue a local option levy used to pay for swimming pool operations at Sweet Home High School.
The Sweet Home School District voted Monday evening during its regular board meeting to send the levy to the ballot.
The current five-year levy expires June 30. For this school year the district reduced the levied amount from 32 cents per $1,000 of property value to 30 cents. The levy was passed to pay for operation of the pool, and revenues had increased beyond that level.
An informal committee met on July 23 to explore funding options for the pool and recommended to continue the levy for another five years at 30 cents per $1,000 of property value.
That means tax rates will not increase for property owners, said Leena Ellis, who attended the committee meeting and presented the proposal to the School Board with Bruce Davis, coach for the Sweet Home Swim Club.
If revenues continue to increase, they could be put to use expanding programs, such as lessons among grade school students.
The board could also choose to reduce the size of the levy, said Business Manager Kevin Strong.
As a local option levy for the School District, the tax does not impact city and county local option levies for law enforcement and the library.
The city has not supported the creation of an aquatics district because the resulting property tax compression would limit revenues in those areas.
With the local option levy, the district is eligible for state grant funds for long-term maintenance.
Attending the aquatics committee meeting were Mindy Cummings, Madelyn Neuschwander, Sarah Hewitt, Megan Hager, Ellis, Rachel Tyler, board member Jim Gourley, board member Jason Van Eck, Aquatics Director A. Jay Bronson and Strong.
“As a community, I’d just like you to (understand) how important a community pool is,” Davis said Monday evening at the School Board meeting.
Every day, 10 people drown in the United States, Davis said. Of those, two are under the age of 14. Drowning is the fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States.
That underscores the need for swimming education, he said. Additionally, in the past five years, the high school swimming program has produced multiple championship teams and multiple individual champions.
Attending the board meeting and voting to approve the request to send the levy to voters in November were Gourley, Mike Reynolds, Angela Clegg, Carol Babcock and Debra Brown. Absent were Jenny Daniels, Chanz Keeney, Chairman Jason Redick and Jason Van Eck.
In other business:
– Supt. Tom Yahraes told the board that the cost for the “extended scope” of the Sweet Home Junior High remodel was estimated at $12 million.
The project is primarily funded by a $4 million bond levy approved by voters last year. That was matched by a $4 million grant by the state.
Yahraes said that Maintenance Supervisor Josh Darwood went to work trying to bring that total down by changing construction materials and figuring out what district staff can do itself.
Additional funding is available through the district’s Long-Term Maintenance Fund, Yahraeas said, and he is “cautiously optimistic we’ll be able to execute a majority of the scope.”
Administrators are still “wrestling” with the numbers and project, Yahraes said. The administration will prepare a report on the project prior to next month’s board meeting on Sept. 10.
– Accepted the resignation of Tiffany Hadley, special education, Sweet Home High School, and Adam Barber, aquatics shift supervisor, SHHS.
– Accepted a leave of absence request for Melissa Klumph, advanced math, SHHS, from Aug. 27 to June 14.
– Approved the surplus of several vehicles, including a 1998 International bus with starter problems; a 2000 GMC bus that won’t start; a 1996 Blue Bird bus that smokes and does not always start; a 2008 Blue Bird bus with a blown engine; a four-wheel drive 1994 Suburban that is no longer in use; a 1979 international dump truck with a blown engine; and a 1987 van that is no longer in use.
– Held the first reading of numerous policy updates for the new school year. Subjects range from unmanned aircraft systems and sexual harassment to students with disabilities and reporting child abuse.