The decisions that must be made in order to place a bond for new schools on the April 17 ballot need to be made soon.
The board of directors for the Mercer Island School District will meet Thursday, Jan. 5, at 1 p.m. at West Mercer Elementary School, 4141 81st Ave. S.E., to continue the discussion on new schools and to take action as appropriate on a 21st Century Facilities Master Plan.
Board president Pat Braman said the meeting is being held during the day so that citizens who cannot attend evening meetings will have a chance to weigh in on this important issue.
Braman said they will be discussing alternatives based on recommendations from the 21st Century Facilities Planning Committee, a group of 20 people from the Island who toiled for 120 hours to come up with alternative ideas of how to build cost-effective new schools.
The board must come up with a dollar amount for a bond to be voted on in a special election soon because the deadline to file is March 2.
Braman said they would like to pay for the land that the district wants to purchase for a new transportation center, which is $2,550,000. This will allow the district to get the buses and refueling center off the high school mega block to free up space for a new high school in the future.
School Board member Dave Myerson was the only board member who voted against moving toward an April vote. He said he thought it premature to have a vote in absence of knowing exactly what the vote will be for.
“It’s important to say exactly what we want to do with this, not just say ‘trust us,’” Myerson said.
He agrees with Braman that the parcel for the transportation fleet is necessary, but that’s just over $2 million. The amount of money being contemplated could be anywhere from $100 to $200 million.
The facilities committee has recommended building three new elementary schools and a new middle school on the existing sites of the current Islander Middle School, West Mercer Elementary, Island Park Elementary and Lakeridge Elementary. One other option is securing land for a fourth elementary school, which — with the changing demographics of the Island — could be good planning if the district could find an appropriate parcel of land.
Mercer Island Education Association President Tani Lindquist said it is her belief that the decision of whether or not to have three large (650 to 700 students) elementary schools or four smaller elementary schools is where the sticking point is.
Myerson said he is in favor of a scenario that does involve a fourth elementary school. He said three large elementary schools are not the best learning environment for the kids.
“Fifty years down the road, I don’t want people to say, what a stupid board for not securing land (for a fourth elementary school),” he said.
Frank Morrison, who was on the 21st Century FPC, has chaired 15 campaigns for school bonds since 1992 with CMIPS, or the Committee for Mercer Island Public Schools. He said he is not going to do so this time. A chair for the campaign will be appointed and the committee will be organized at a meeting on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center.
Braman said it’s a good time to buy bonds and a good time to put projects out to bid.
The board will meet again Jan. 17 and 19 for its annual retreat, followed by another meeting on Jan. 26.
