CCARE
A Committee of Concerned Advocates for Responsible Education
B L O G
$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 proposal because 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 The information that follows is historical.
1 Comment
Robert (Bob) Meyers
10/18/2024 10:10:50 am
I've been bending over backwards to find a way to rationalize voting in favor of this bond, but I haven't been able to do it. I'm willing to give ISD the benefit of the doubt that the various capital projects are sensible, as they've represented that they've liaised with architects, engineers, etc. about the projects. But, I haven't been able to find any information at all to substantiate the collective ostensible $642,000,000 principal cost to fund those projects. I've searched ISD's resources but haven't found anything. I've asked ISD via multiple channels but haven't received a response. I've compared our bonds and related projects with other districts' bonds (and levies) and related projects. The Tacoma SD passed a comparable bond in February, but in addition to the types of "spot improvements" that ISD is contemplating, Tacoma SD's bond will fund the complete reconstruction of six schools and the substantial reconstruction of five additional buildings. Comparing ISD's bond to Tacoma's, I think it's reasonable to question whether ISD is overbudgeting its projects and can fund its projects for less money. The Lake Washington SD is seeking to fund its "spot improvements" via a capital levy, which unlike the bond, would be interest free. I haven't been able to find any information about why ISD is seeking to fund certain of its projects with bonds, for which interest will be charged. There might be totally acceptable answers to all of these questions, but ISD hasn't provided them. In the absence of such information, I'll vote against this bond. But, I'd be open minded to reconsidering funding these projects later if / once the ISD provides information to substantiate the costs of the projects.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCCARE is a nonprofit Political Action Committee registered with the State Public Disclosure Commission. Archives
January 2025
Categories |