The Marysville School District is one step closer to a second high school after lining up $3.16 million worth of land on Getchell Hill on which to build a campus.
However, moving in depends on voters, who must pass a bond issue to close the deals. School leaders continue to hammer out details of a bond proposal after two attempts failed last year.
A facilities committee is to make recommendations to the school board by Feb. 28, in time for a May 15 vote. The soonest a second high school could open would be fall 2010.
Superintendent Larry Nyland said having the land “is very important for the future growth and development of the district.”
The two parcels:
* $1.31 million: A 9.42-acre site near 8215 84th St. NE owned by Rose Hunter and Shannon and Melinda Ramey.
* $1.85 million: A 20-acre parcel of vacant land owned by Lawrence and Linda Jubie and Harvey and Janet Jubie.
Mitigation fees paid by developers would be used to purchase one of the two sites. Money from a bond issue would be used to purchase the other. A bond would need to be passed in the next two years under that agreement.
Combined with a vacant parcel of land the district already owns, the 38-acre site would be large enough for a new high school campus.
Negotiations for land on Getchell Hill have been ongoing for more than a year. The site is three miles southeast of the current campus.
The owners of the two parcels had been looking at development options, Nyland said. “So I think the timing was fortunate for us,” he added.
Marysville currently uses 113 portable classrooms throughout the district. Several are at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. With more than 2,500 students, it is the county’s largest high school and one of the largest in the state.
In all, the district this fall counted 10,754 students. Growth is expected to continue, with more than 1,600 potential homes in various stages of development, many of them concentrated around already cramped Sunnyside Elementary School.
A new elementary school also is likely to be part of the bond proposal.
Earlier options put a request as high as $70 million to buy land and build an elementary and 800-student high school. Long term, the district is looking at two high schools of about 1,600 students each.
Voters said “no” in 2003 to $136 million in bond proposals that would have built a new high school, middle school and elementary school while remodeling other buildings. Approval was about 54 percent, well short of the 60 percent supermajority needed. A scaled-down $54.3 million proposal to purchase property and build a second high school also was defeated.
Last fall’s teachers strike didn’t help efforts. Three school board members failed in their re-election bids as a result of the strike, which also led to the ouster of former Superintendent Linda Whitehead.
A resulting recall campaign aimed at removing two other school board members was dropped last week. Supporters of a bond say it will help efforts by keeping the ballot focused on building needs.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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