SNOHOMISH – Voters in the Snohomish School District are being asked to approve a $141.6 million bond measure that would pay for construction of a new high school, modernization of Snohomish High School and many other buildings and repairs.
Edmonds School District voters also will decide on a four-year $44 million capital improvements levy.
Absentee ballots were mailed late last week. Election Day is May 18.
Snohomish
The Snohomish school board in January decided to take the recommendations made by a citizens committee of more than 35 people and use them as the guide for the next 10 years of building improvements in the district.
The group, formed in March, looked at all the district’s schools, determined what the biggest needs were and presented its case to the school board in December.
The May 18 bond vote is the first phase of a three-part process that will include two more bond measures that total an additional $140 million.
The tax rate to pay for the May 18 bond measure would increase by an estimated $1.39 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That means it would cost the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 about $278 annually.
The projects paid for with this bond issue could be eligible for more than $21 million in matching dollars from the state.
Most of the money will pay for the new high school and remodeling Snohomish High. The estimated costs are $68 million and $64 million.
There also would be $17 million for a new elementary school in the south end of the district and $8 million to buy land for the two new schools. There’s another $6 million for safety and preservation of some buildings, and technology improvements.
The Snohomish school board also decided to form another citizens committee – possibly with many of the same members who made the building recommendations – to oversee the use of the bond money.
Edmonds
Meanwhile, the Edmonds School District hopes to upgrade classroom technology and make science labs, playgrounds and athletic fields safer with its bond measure.
Levy money also would allow the district to make structural improvements to better brace for earthquakes and do design work for the future building of a new Lynnwood High School and Scriber Lake Alternative High School.
The levy rate would be 68 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for each of the four years: For a $200,000 home, the additional tax would be $136 annually.
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