LYNNWOOD If voters approve a $140 million bond in February, the Edmonds School District will be able to do $280 million worth of construction projects, Superintendent Nick Brossoit said.
The list of items includes a new Lynnwood High School on the district’s North Road property; rebuilding Meadowdale Middle School; remodeling Alderwood Middle School, Madrona K-8 and Lynndale Elementary School; and other projects affecting every school in the district.
Bonds to replace Lynnwood High School have failed twice. However, the bond headed for the February ballot looks different than those earlier efforts in 2002 and 2003.
This time around, the district plans to use funding from property sales and leases of the current Lynnwood High School land to complete an additional $140 million worth of projects, Brossoit said.
That additional money would only be available if the bond passes and the financial dominoes start falling, he said. To free up the Lynnwood High School land for lease, the district needs to have the school, he said.
The tax impact will vary from year to year, but Brossoit estimates rates per $1,000 of assessed valuation will be 13 cents in 2007, 27 cents in 2008, 77 cents in 2009 and 2010, and 33 cents in 2011.
The levy collections for the sale of previous bonds will decrease during the same period, and the overall taxes collected for the school district also will decrease, he said.
Brossoit said the district has received a lot of input on the bond, listed as Proposition 2 on the ballot.
“This has the fingerprints of an awful lot of folks in the community,” he said.
Lynnwood High School was tops on the list, said Mark Dillan, chairman of the facility subcommittee for the Citizen’s Planning Committee.
The school, built in 1969, was intended to last about 30 years, he said. New high schools are being built with 50-year lifespans, he added.
By relocating Lynnwood High School and the district’s maintenance and transportation buildings, the school district will be opening a window of opportunity to lease both properties, which are in prime locations near Alderwood mall, he said.
“It gives us, as a district, an ability to have a continuous revenue source that does not come out of the pockets of the taxpayers,” Dillan said.
He said a key aspect addressed by the bond is emergency preparedness. Each school will receive a specially built shed to house emergency supplies and resources, he said. Some schools also will receive cable or power upgrades for technology.
Proposition 1, the other item going on the February ballot, is a replacement levy for programs and operation, which would raise approximately $34.6 million a year for four years.
Jennifer Aaby is the education reporter for the Enterprise newspapers.
What the bond pays for
$86 million: Rebuilding Lynnwood High School
$38 million: Remodeling Meadowdale Middle School
$16 million: Capital improvement projects at all schools
What the property leases pay for
$40 million: Renovating Alderwood Middle School
$30 million: Renovating Madrona K-8 School
$26 million: Relocating maintenance-transportation, warehouse and administration offices
$21 million: Renovating Lynndale Elementary School
$12 million: Remodeling administration offices into facility for Scriber Lake High School and Options program
$9 million: Other school project priorities
$2 million: Preliminary designs for next phase of construction projects
Attend a meeting
The community is invited to two informational meetings regarding the Edmonds School District’s levy and bond ballot measures. The meetings will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at Lynnwood High School, 3001 184th St. SW. For more information, call 425-670-7044 or e-mail schoolelection@ edmonds.wednet.edu
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