A $60.5 million bond would cover costs of rebuilding much of Clarkston, Wash., High School as well as making improvements to other schools in the Clarkston School District.
The $73 million total price tag attached to a plan recommended by a design advisory committee and accepted by the Clarkston School Board on Tuesday would include an anticipated $12.5 million from the state of Washington.
Board member Miles Sidener was absent, but the board's four other members voted to accept the recommendation. The board is tentatively scheduled to approve a bond resolution based on the proposal in July for a November bond election.
The plan discussed Tuesday would result in a 139,000-square-foot, redesigned high school and district-wide improvements such as secured entry vestibules, furniture upgrades and flooring replacements. It also includes specific projects at individual schools, such as renovating the kitchen and adding covers to walkways at Highland Elementary and expanding the gymnasium at Lincoln Middle School.
Estimated property tax rates for the bond came in at $2.85 per $1,000 of assessed value for a 20-year term, or $2.49 per $1,000 of assessed value for a 25-year term, district architect Greg McCracken said. That would put taxes at about $427.50 to $373.50 per year for a home valued at $150,000.
A $47.8 million project proposed in February 2014 to replace the high school's east wing included a $38 million bond and approximately $9.8 million from the state of Washington. That bond received just 48 percent approval. High school construction bonds in Washington require a 60 percent supermajority to pass.
The estimated rate for that 25-year bond was $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed value, making the annual cost about $275 for a home valued at $150,000.
The $59.8 million high school construction bond approved by Lewiston voters in March for a new school in the Lewiston Orchards does not include athletic facilities, which the district hopes to pay for over the next five years with existing funds and sales of existing properties. The Lewiston bond has an estimated rate of about $1.38 per $1,000 of assessed value after Idaho's homeowner's exemption.
The Clarkston High School plan -- with wings for academics, athletics and career and technical education -- creates an entirely connected footprint, preserving the original Adams Building, auditorium and "T" building near the northwest corner of the campus.
The proposed school would extend north to south, from Chestnut Street to Adams Street. The current school runs more east-to-west.
Athletic venues include a new football stadium and a flexible, multi-use field for athletics, physical education and band. That space would include a baseball diamond with a moveable fence. The varsity softball field would remain at Lincoln Middle School in the Clarkston Heights. Tennis courts would be constructed either over the old pool at Beachview Park -- currently a skate park -- or at adjacent Parkway Elementary.
Approximately two dozen teachers, administrators, staff members and community members participated in the process to identify the school district's needs -- for the high school and other buildings -- and arrive at a design proposal.
"This was not done in isolation," McCracken said, acknowledging several design committee members in the audience. "It was a very collaborative process, with a lot of involvement from a lot of people."
The team focused on a set of principles including safety, community compatibility -- and that "it must be student-focused," McCracken said.
The firm McCracken represents, BLRB Architects, is based in Spokane, but he lives in Clarkston, where he grew up and graduated from high school. Creating a plan that fits the community, he said, meant recognizing "we're not the Bellevue or Seattle market or culture."
