$1.7 BILLION? YIKES! Vote NO on Issaquah School District Bond Proposition 1!
The Issaquah School District (ISD) has placed a $642 Million bond (Proposition 1) on November’s ballot. It includes $182,700,000 to build High School #4, the THIRD time they’ve asked for money to fund this project.
What is the district NOT telling us? ISD money management is out of control, and they are not being transparent
The $642 Milliondoes not include approximately $200 Million in interest on the Bonds, bringing its total cost to over $800 Million!
Combined with $814 Million from the 2016 bond still being paid off, this proposition would bring the total debt imposed on the district’s taxpayers to nearly $1.7 BILLION!
The State Auditor determined that ISD Administration “misused” $46 Million of the 2016 bond money (Seattle Times, Jan. 15, 2023), and questioned ISD’s use of a $420,000 grant for laptops. ISD “did not concur” but “subsequently returned” the entire grant amount.
Moody’s credit rating for the district has gone from“stable” to “negative.”
Proposition 1 doesn’t guarantee the money will be spent on the promised projects.$36 Million of the 2016 bond money, meant for HS#4, was spent on a new Administration building.
Earlier this year, they “repurposed” $44 Million from the 2022 levy for other ISD projects, then put another $44 Million back into this bond.
Costs for HS#4 have increased from the original estimate of $120 Million, to 164 Million, and finally another $198 Million. If this bond passes, HS#4 will cost over $340 Million including the bond interest.
Taxpayers pay more, land developers pay less
The Administration is transferring the cost of new schools away from developers to us by radically reducing impact fees, while promoting one of the largest property tax increases in the state.
Increased property taxes even though we are still repaying previous bonds and levies.
The King County Assessor shows a 25% property tax increase from 2019 to 2024 in ISD’s slice of the pie.
We can’t trust ISD, or what they say
They claim their 2025 tax rate (a nearly 10% increase over 2024) will remain constant until 2036. Yet, if Prop 1 passes and HS#4 is built, they will be coming after us again for more operating funds since they won’t have enough money to run the new school!
We voted yes in April 2022 to fund mental health support for our kids. Three weeks later, the district laid off counselors to “balance the budget” (King5, May 2, 2022). Now they claim part of this bond is for “Student health and well-being.”
The district’s own 2024 Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) shows that they already have existing capacity to accommodate their projected high school enrollment for the next 10 years!
CFP enrollment projections are consistently overestimated in spite of today’s demographic trends.
The extravagant design of HS#4 includes a three-story atrium for a cafeteria, a 2000+ seat stadium with lights that will only be used “a few nights a year,” a 780-stall parking garage with four rooftop tennis courts, and more impractical, expensive architectural features. And, by the way, the designed hallways are no wider than those in the current buildings!
The district has produced NO estimates for improving and remodeling existing campuses, even though Lake Washington School District will expand existing high schools instead of building a costly new one, AND 60% of HS#4 students will come from off the plateau.
ISD forces us to make bad decisions
The 2022 levy bundled technology for students with $44 Million for HS#4, forcing us to vote for a bad project to fund a good one – and they’re doing the same to us this time!
ISD is out of touch
The City Councils of Sammamish, Newcastle and Renton declined ISD’s requests to endorse this proposition.
A district-funded survey shows that their priorities differ from those living in the district. 49% of responders saidISD does a “fair” to “poor” jobof “being transparent.”
Parents and residents who raise questions are marginalized and attacked.
ISD isn’t using NetZero construction to significantly reduce decades of future operating costs, but other parts of the bond are for increasing energy efficiency at other schools! Without doing it right the first time, they’ll be coming to us for more money again.
It’s another bad plan for a bad site
Cougar Mountain Middle School faced multiple delays and cost overruns due to the hillside site.
ISD’s architect said the HS#4 site is“challenged with space because of the lack of flat areas” and “multiple topographic challenges.”
There will be 4,100additionaldaily trips on 228th Av. SE – a street that already has six schools on it.
They ignored recommendations to downsize the plan from the cities of Issaquah and Sammamish.
Kokanee Salmon, who spawn in Laughing Jacob’s Creek, will be harmed by increased stormwater runoff, because 77% of the trees will be removed, and they “… are not seeking LEED or green certification”
Only one entrance/exit, which the City of Sammamish says is not safe for emergencies.
To help the cause, please send a donation made out to CCARE to 3020 Issaquah Pine Lake Road SE #134, Sammamish, WA 98075 or go to the DONATE button at the top of the page.
No candidate authorized this ad. Paid for by A Committee of Concerned Advocates for Responsible Education, 3020 Issaquah Pine Lake Road, #134 , Sammamish WA 98075; Top 5 contributors : Providence Point Umbrella Assn.; no others Top three donors: n/a
300+ Million for a 20th Century School
“I have served 20 years on the development commission and worked on many school district projects. I am not overjoyed tonight. I’m actually upset. I feel like there is a missed opportunity here. And what you did tonight was what you could do, which was decide if it met the code. But the code to me is not a visionary or an aspirational anything – it’s a code. There’s a huge lost opportunity here. I’m upset that we never talked about what this campus could do to bring our youth forward into the 21st century with something other than a stadium. I heard in the testimony that we were provided for this, somebody called having a stadium at every school ‘equity.’ That’s not. That’s equal. ‘Equity’ is making sure that all of the students in the school have opportunities for what they want to do and not just the sporting community. We should have been able to look at something that was amazing and imaginary and forward-thinking and we got a school from the 1970’s.”
Issaquah Mayor Mary Lou Pauly Issaquah City Council Special Meeting April 19, 2022 YouTube Video at approx 1:19 Approval of Resolution 2022-09 by the Issaquah City Council
CCARE OPPOSES ISD 642 MILLION DOLLAR BOND PROPOSAL
7/11/2024
$642 MILLION is Just Too Much! LET US BE VERY CLEAR – We are FOR kids and FOR public education! CCARE PAC members include parents, experienced teachers and public school administrators, as well as university professors who have supported school bonds and levies in the past.
However, we are fed up with ISD's seemingly endless appetite for increasing our taxes. We see defeating this bond as the only opportunity for the taxpayers of the District to force ISD to LISTEN and to make the changes that will make things better for the District's kids and residents today, and in the future. Therefore, we are against this incredibly expensive Bond proposalbecause it places a highly unreasonable, long-term financial burden on the District’s taxpayers! At its May 23, 2024 meeting, the Issaquah School District (ISD) Board of Directors voted unanimously to place a $642,345,000 capital bond proposal on the November 2024 ballot.1 This proposal includes $182,700,000 now required to complete the proposed High School #4 as currently planned.2 If this bond issue were to pass, it would bring the total capital cost of this High School project to nearly $300,000,000!
At the same meeting, the ISD Board “repurposed” $44 Million from the 2022 capital levy.3 At that time, this amount was advertised to voters as needed in order to fund the then deficit in proposed High School #4’s estimated cost. That deficit has now reached $182.7 Million. The Board’s May 23 action “repurposed” that $44 Million to other capital projects which were originally planned for as part of this 2024 Bond.3 While the total capital cost of the Bond did not change, it increased the HS #4 portion to $182.7 Million.3
After a Bond issue was passed in 2016, the District Board “repurposed” $36 Million to buy and remodel a new Administration Building. How can they be trusted not to again “repurpose” a portion of this proposed Bond for something other than what is currently being advertised to the voters of the Issaquah School District?
More content will be added to this website in the near future, so please check back for additional information. Meanwhile, for more history on the controversy surrounding the proposed High School #4, click on the Archive links to the right.
We welcome your donations to support our campaign. Our contact information is below. Please VOTE NO on this Bond proposal in November!
US Mail: CCARE, 3020 Issaquah Pine Lake RD SE #134, Sammamish, WA. 98075 Email: [email protected] Sources: 1. Issaquah School Board Bond resolution #1223, May 23, 2024 2. Presentation charts from ISD’s May 23, 2024 Board meeting 3. Issaquah School Board Resolution #1222, May 23, 2024
***** Future Events ****
= If you would like a yard sign, please email us with your contact information. = Presentation at Providence Point clubhouse ( 4265 224th Ct SE, Issaquah, WA 98029 ) on Friday, October 18th at 1 pm.
Contact us: [email protected] or CCARE 3020 Issaquah Pine Lake Rd SE #134 Sammamish WA 98075