Commentary

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008 GUEST COMMENTARY Invest in the future of Mukilteo schools By Judy Schwab and Geoff Short As president and vice president of the Mukilteo School Board, we believe communicating with the public is a priority. Because our residents are members of several different civic entities, including all of Mukilteo, parts of South Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek and unincorporated Snohomish County, it can be difficult to get important information to the entire community. We are grateful for the opportunity to use this forum for just such a message. We are running out of elementary classroom space in the Mukilteo School District. This newspaper has reported several times about the significant growth in the southeastern neighborhoods of our district, particularly in the Lake Stickney area where our newest school, Odyssey Elementary, opened six years ago. Within a few years of opening we needed portables to accommodate a wave of new students. This September, if no steps had been taken, Odyssey would have been larger than each of our middle schools. As a temporary solution, all of Odyssey's kindergarten students will be bused to Serene Lake Elementary in the fall, and there will be small boundary changes for new students in its service area. In order to meet this deficit of space, our board has approved a bond resolution to be presented to voters on May 20. If passed, this $139.2 million bond proposal will build a new elementary school on the old Lake Stickney School site and fully remodel and add classroom space at Mukilteo and Discovery elementary schools. The bond includes vital safety, health and technology upgrades throughout the district, as well as the purchase of land to accommodate future projected growth at the secondary or elementary level. Since the failure of the last bond two years ago, our school district has coped with growth by moving programs and small groups of students, and, of course, by providing more portable classrooms. A boundary committee is being formed in case the bond measure is not approved. All elementary boundaries will be redrawn and there may be changes to feeder patterns for middle and high schools. The committee will consider where to locate new portables, changes in grade configurations and the adoption of a year-round calendar. Despite our best efforts, these solutions will be difficult and stressful for staff and students and their families. In addition, a failing bond means that future projects will be more expensive and that necessary maintenance of facilities will be further delayed. In the recent past, our bonds and levies have resulted in a tax rate that has been more than $5 per $1,000 assessed property valuation. The tax impact of this bond request is an additional 31 cents. Added to all other school taxes already in place, that would total $3.74 per $1,000, which is less than the tax rate was in 2007! The additional cost of this bond on a $300,000 home would be $93 per year or $7.75 per month. For a $500,000 home, the cost would be $155 per year or $12.20 per month. What's more, because school districts are allowed to collect only the dollar amount stated on the ballot measure, these tax rates would begin to decline after four years, possibly sooner, with the larger tax base that is expected from the growth in number and value of homes and other property in the school district. We are acutely aware of our responsibility to be accountable for the prudent use of tax dollars. Our administrative costs are limited by policy to 12 percent of general fund expenditures and are among the lowest in the state for like-sized districts. The projects that resulted from the last bond proposal approved by the voters in 2000 were monitored by a bond oversight committee and were all constructed on schedule and within budget. Our district is rated very highly by investors' services Moody's and Standard and Poor's. Both ratings reflect our sound financial practices and satisfactory reserve levels. This means we can sell bonds at lower interest rates, ultimately resulting in lower costs to the taxpayers. As school board members, we have a duty to plan and to advocate for students in our district, especially to provide adequate classroom space in safe, well-maintained buildings. In the past, when the need was greatest, Mukilteo School District voters have risen to the occasion and provided the financial resources necessary to support our first-class education. This is one of those occasions. This bond offers great value for your investment. We urge you to invest in our children and their future. Vote "yes" to support our schools. Judy Schwab is president and Geoff Short is vice president of the Mukilteo School Board.

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