Marysville postpones remodel of high school

Published 11:16 pm Sunday, July 4, 2010

MARYSVILLE — The list of Marysville school projects that may wind up on the ballot next year is narrowing.

A committee has tentatively recommended remodeling or rebuilding Liberty and Cascade elementary schools and Marysville Middle School. The committee had considered asking voters to pay to remodel Marysville-Pilchuck High School as well, but decided the project was too pricey for now and not as urgent as the others.

The Marysville School Board is scheduled to make a final decision about what to place on the February ballot in September, after the Citizens Planning Committee issues a formal recommendation. The committee had planned to make its recommendation by June 30 but postponed the decision in order to gather more community input, Superintendant Larry Nyland said.

The bond to rebuild or refurbish the three schools and do a few smaller projects would cost around $86 million. Despite the sour economy, committee member Bob Graef said he’s cautiously optimistic that voters would see the need and approve the bond.

“I know that there are moods that course through the community and those are fueled by the economic realities for the time,” said Graef, a retired teacher who has worked to pass several school bonds. “We can’t ignore these. On the other hand, we can’t ignore the obligation of a school board to provide an adequate and safe education of the kids.”

Liberty and Cascade are the district’s oldest elementary schools. And while Marysville Middle isn’t the oldest middle school, it is in greatest need of repairs, Nyland said. The average age of the three schools is 53 years old.

If the schools aren’t remodeled or rebuilt, they will continue to cost the district a lot to maintain, Nyland said.

A previous school bond is set to expire in 2010; and even if voters approve a new bond, they may wind up with a lower property tax rate, Nyland said.

“We feel we can address some critical needs of aging facilities in the district and do so at less cost — at least in terms of tax rate — to the voters,” Nyland said.

Because of declining enrollment and budget problems, the Marysville School Board considered closing an elementary school earlier this year, but opted to push the item off the table for a while.

If voters approve a bond to rebuild Liberty and Cascade, those schools wouldn’t be at risk of closure, Nyland said. However, that doesn’t mean the board won’t decide to close other schools to save money.

The school board also is considering cutting the size of most of the district’s middle schools in half to around 400 students each. If the bond passes, the district may design the Marysville Middle School with that concept in mind, Nyland said.

In February, Marysville voters also will have to decide whether to support a maintenance and operations levy that pays for day-to-day expenses at schools, including teachers, buses and technology.

Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.