Clarkston school bond will be on ballot

Clarkston School District voters will make the call in November on a $60.5 million school improvement bond after the Clarkston School Board made the ask official Monday.

With Jim Nelly absent, the remaining four board members approved a resolution to put the measure on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The bond would pay for replacing a large portion of Clarkston High School and its athletic fields as well as a variety of improvements to other schools in the district. An anticipated $12.5 million from the state of Washington brings the proposed project's total to $73 million.

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The school district's bond counsel -- Brian Kistler and Debbi Haskins of Kutak Rock LLP in Spokane -- presented the bond resolution to the board and answered questions about the details.

Superintendent Tim Winter asked if bonds could be sold to local buyers, as they were during the Lewiston School District's recent bond sale for its new high school. Though their firm typically handles school bonds through a negotiated sale to a single buyer, Kistler said, a local sale to multiple individual buyers is an option if the board wants it. Or a combination of those two options also could be employed.

The board would pass a resolution defining the terms of the sale if the November bond proposal were approved by voters. School construction bonds in Washington require a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

District architect Greg McCracken presented the proposed design for the high school project at the board's June meeting, including an estimated property tax rate of $2.49 per $1,000 of assessed value for a 25-year term, or $2.85 per $1,000 of assessed value for a 20-year term. That would put taxes at about $373.50 to $427.50 per year for a home valued at $150,000.

A $38 million bond was rejected by Clarkston voters in 2014, and a $46.8 million bond failed in 2011. The district would have received additional state funding for those projects as well.

Also at Monday's meeting:

  • The board approved a bond resolution for purchasing three new school buses. The four-year, $337,000 bond will have an interest rate of 2.214 percent. It will be issued by Twin River Bank and does not require voter approval. The first bus is set to be purchased in the fall, with another coming each of the next two years.
  • The board approved a $6,092 donation to Lincoln Middle School from Clearwater Paper's Community Giving Program for the purchase of 25 Chromebook laptop computers.
  • Winter gave an overview of the school district's summer maintenance projects, including paving the parking lot at Highland Elementary, new windows in the front of the high school's Adams Building, painting projects at several schools, and safety and security upgrades -- such as cameras and paging systems -- throughout the district.
  • The board approved its 2017-18 meeting schedule, which moves its monthly study sessions from the school district offices to a different school within the district each month. The board's next study session is set for Aug. 14 in the Clarkston High School library.
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