PORT ANGELES — School Board President Sarah Methner favors asking voters again this year to approve the same $98.25 million high school replacement bond that voters resoundingly defeated in a special election Tuesday.
Board members are expected to discuss possible action in the wake of Tuesday’s election when they meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today at the Central Services Building, 216 E. Fourth St.
“I expect we will talk about it,” Methner said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, schools Superintendent Mark Jackson said Wednesday that while a new high school is still needed, he and other school district employees need a few days to take stock of the election results.
The 25-year bond garnered 4,165 yes votes,or 48.9 percent, to 4,336 no votes, or 51.01 percent, falling short of the 60 percent supermajority needed for passage.
“We are trying to find our footing,” Jackson said.
“It’s just too raw at this state.
“I think everybody knows we’ve got to sit back and analyze the process.”
Methner, whose husband, Steve Methner, is co-chairman of the pro-bond Port Angeles Citizens for Education, said she expects board members could take action at their Feb. 26 meeting on holding another special election April 28 to try again to pass a construction bond.
She said the “nuts and bolts” of a bond could be decided upon at a special meeting before the next regular meeting slated for March 12, just a day before the filing deadline for resolutions for the April 28 special election.
The special meeting could be held later if board members approve a measure for voters’ consideration for the Nov. 3 general election.
While voters defeated the bond, they approved a two-year maintenance-and-operations property tax levy.
It garnered 5,313 yes votes, or 62.4 percent, to 3,201 no votes, or 37.6 percent, far exceeding the simple majority needed for passage.
“I’m thrilled by how much the levy passed by,” Sarah Methner said.
“Thank you to the voters for passing that, at least.”
The levy will collect $8.6 million in 2016 and $8.8 million in 2017.
It will pay for utilities, student transportation, extracurricular activities, health services, maintenance, technology, career technical education and basic education.
The levy, which will replace one that expires at the end of this year, will cost an estimated $2.06 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, based on 2014 property values, or a total of $412 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.
The proposed bond would have funded replacement of classrooms and infrastructure at the aging high school at 304 E. Park Ave.
Most of the 10 buildings would have been replaced and the auditorium, also known as the Performing Arts Center, would have been refurbished. The gym would not have been replaced.
Proponents pointed to the age of the buildings. Six of the 10 buildings on the campus were built in 1953, two in 1958 and two in 1978.
They said it is plagued by heating problems, leaky roofs and undrinkable drinking water.
The measure grew out of two years of meetings of residents and school district officials, and was outlined in dozens of meetings with clubs and other organizations.
Beginning late last year, it was tackled by an anti-bond group, Citizens for Affordable Schools.
Co-founder Shelley Taylor, the face of the group who made numerous public appearances against the proposal, acknowledged Wednesday that high school improvements are needed.
But she suggested the district should consider a “modular building process” in which she said buildings pieced together on-site sit on foundations.
She said such buildings offer the same structural permanence as conventional brick-and-mortar buildings and can be less expensive without sacrificing quality.
Jackson countered that modular buildings are not strong enough to withstand Port Angeles’ rainy, damp weather.
He said bond proponents spent a long time mulling their options before coming up with the failed proposal.
Methner said modular buildings are not eligible for state assistance funding of a possible $18 million.
“Short of shuttering programs or buildings, we can’t find another way to lower the cost,” she said, adding that the $3.15-a-square-foot construction estimate was “middle-of-the-road.”
“We have no interest in building low-rent for our children.”
In addition, Methner distrusted Taylor’s information, saying it comes from industry sources such as the Modular Building Institute, an industry trade organization.
“If I want to sell widgets, I say my widgets are the best,” Methner quipped.
Taylor said more schools are using modular construction and asserted that legislation making it easier to obtain state funding “is getting a lot of traction.”
Taylor’s second major concern about the bond was how the district is spending existing maintenance-and-operations money for administrators’ salaries.
“Laws have to be changed to make sure buildings are getting the proper amount of care and maintenance so that when they do get a new school, it doesn’t fall into decline,” Taylor said.
Bond opponent Kaj Ahlburg said Tuesday after the result came in that the bond was simply too big.
Whatever proposal the district offers voters in a second try, it must be smaller than the bond that failed, he said.
The bond would have cost property owners an estimated $2.06 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, based on 2014 property values.
Two Port Angeles bonds costing a total of $0.46 per $1,000 of assessments will expire at the end of this year, meaning taxpayers would have seen a difference of $1.60 per $1,000 on their 2016 tax bills, rather than the full $2.06.
The Sequim School District’s pared-down, $49.5 million, 20-year bond was on its way Tuesday to defeat with 57 percent approval, still short of the 60 percent required for passage.
“It’s a gargantuan task to pass a bond at 60 percent,” Jackson said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
