Big enrollment growth propels Marysville bond

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, September 4, 2005

MARYSVYILLE – Like other schools in Marysville, Pinewood Elementary is bracing for more enrollment growth.

Whether this fall or next, the school most likely will need two more classrooms.

That’s why workers carpeted Pinewood’s stage over the summer and squeezed in two more classrooms.

“I’m sure we will be doing that at other schools next year,” said John Bingham, Marysville School District’s maintenance director.

Classroom space has become a premium on many campuses in the sprawling school district, which already has 117 portable classrooms.

Marysville has not passed a bond measure for school construction in 15 years – the longest stretch for any district in Snohomish County.

Voters will decide Sept. 20 whether they are willing to increase their taxes to build new schools and make improvements to existing ones. The $171 million proposal would cost $1.32 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That would add $264 a year, or $22 a month, to the property taxes on a $200,000 home.

Voters narrowly rejected the same bond proposal in May. The measure received more than a 58 percent “yes” vote. Bonds require a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

Among other things, the bond measure would finance construction of a second high school for 1,600 students, renovate Marysville-Pilchuck High School, add a new elementary school and replace Cascade and Liberty elementary schools.

Without construction money, the district eventually will have to consider dramatically changing student schedules to make room, Superintendent Larry Nyland said.

“We would have to look at a lot of alternatives,” he said.

That could mean double-shifting students or a rotating year-round school calendar with some students in session while others are on vacation, Nyland said.

The district houses 3,000 students in portables. Another 2,000 students are in buildings at least 45 years old and in need of repair or replacement.

Cascade and Liberty elementary schools would be rebuilt into larger schools. Estimates show it’s more cost-effective to replace rather than renovate them.

District projections based on building permits and plats show more than 3,000 new homes under development or on the drawing board. Nyland points to a report showing that 123 new homes were sold in the district between April and June; nine were sold during the same period a year ago.

The new high school would be built on Getchell Hill on 83rd Avenue NE. It would open in 2010 or 2011.

Marysville-Pilchuck, which was built for 1,850 students, is now one of the largest high schools in the state with 2,460 students. Another 425 ninth-graders are at Marysville Junior High School because the high school doesn’t have room. The high school’s enrollment could reach 3,000 in the next five years, according to some projections.

George Dragich is serving as a co-chairman of the pro-bond group Citizens for Marysville Schools. His three children in the eighth through 12th grade aren’t likely to benefit directly.

The bottom line, he said, is there is a great community need.

“It’s you can pay me now or pay me later, and the cost … is just going to go up,” Dragich said.

The bond proposal will qualify the district for $52 million in state matching money for future construction projects, including work at Marysville Middle School and Pinewood Elementary, as well as any new construction that will be needed in the future.

There is no organized opposition to the bond measures.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.