MARYSVILLE – The Marysville School District is moving closer to asking voters to approve a school construction bond in the spring.
Still to be determined is what building needs will be addressed and how much money the district will request.
Superintendent Larry Nyland has outlined a series of options that range from a $10 million bond to buy land and construct an elementary school with portable classrooms to a $70 million proposal to build an elementary school, buy land and build an 800-student high school.
“The goal is to have the board rough out the particulars of what a bond issue might look like by Christmastime,” Nyland said.
District residents can learn more and offer suggestions about construction needs at either of two meetings Thursday. Those meetings also will include discussion on the district’s focus on literacy this year and budget and enrollment updates.
“I think we are long overdue in needing to pass a bond,” school board member Ron Young said.
“The tide of necessity requires us to move forward as a united board,” said Michael Kundu, another school board member.
Marysville-Pilchuck High School has one of the largest high school enrollments in the state.
At the same time, the Sunnyside area in the south end of the district faces 450 new homes being developed off 71st Avenue NE, 200 new homes along Sunnyside Drive and other growth. Some students in Sunnyside Elementary School’s traditional boundaries are now being sent to other schools.
The question for the district to resolve is how much does it ask for now, recognizing it might have to come back later.
In 2003, voters rejected $136 million in bond proposals that would have provided a new high school, middle school and elementary school while remodeling existing buildings. Voters also rejected a scaled-down $54.3 million proposal to build a second high school and buy additional property.
“We want to do this the right way with the right steps,” Kundu said. “We are going to show the community we can deliver on what we say we are going to deliver.”
The board has been negotiating for at least two properties in an undisclosed section of Getchell Hill, Nyland said. The land would be used to create a 38-acre high school site.
“We do need to move forward,” Nyland said. “We want to put something on the ballot that … will merit trust of the community and be a part of a long-range plan of meeting facility needs in the district.”
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