Bethel School District to seek new school bond
After the failure of the needed school construction bond, the Bethel School District will place another $433 million bond on the ballot in February.
“Our November school construction bond failed by just 307 votes shy of the required 60 percent supermajority,” Bethel School District Director of Communications Doug Boyles stated in a news release. “It was our fourth failed bond attempt since 2018 and we are quickly running out of options for housing our booming population of students.”
The districts board of directors unanimously voted on Dec. 11 to place the bond on the ballot.
“The February bond is very similar to the bond voters saw in November,” Boyles sated in the release. “There are a few small changes based on community feedback, but the overall cost is the same.”
If the bond passes the tax rate would increase to $142 per $100,000 taxable home value, the news release stated. For the average priced home in the Bethel School District the bond would cost $35 a month.
Bond projects would include;
Cedarcrest Middle School, Challenger High School, Elk plain School of Choice, Evergreen Elementary, Graham-Kapowsin High School and Naches Trail Elementary will either be renovated or expanded.
In the last two years the Bethel School District grew by 717 students. According to the district’s website, more “drastic” measures are on the table including the option to move to a multi-track, year-round school calendar in the 2020-21 school year.
“Bethel was a year-round district from 1974 to 1981, also due to failed bonds and overcrowding,” the website states. “Our Boundary Review Committee is also looking at school boundary changes to help spread out the overcrowding more evenly. Those changes will be communicated to parents in early 2019.”
Election Day is Feb. 12. For more information on the bond visit https://www.bethelsd.org/bond.
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