LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Sultan school bond opponents, supporters weigh in

Common sense, not generosity on Sultan school bond vote

Even though we are not a wealthy community, people in the Sultan School District have traditionally been very generous when it comes to our children's education. As far back as I remember, we have passed every school bond put before us. These bonds allow the School District to spend over and above the money it already receives from other governmental sources (for which we appropriately also pitch in).-á However, the bond we will vote on in February seems to be some sort of administrative wish list, mostly unneeded. Although every property in the District will be charged for this bond (owners and renters alike ' with or without children in addition to all commercial properties ' even businesses barely scraping by) only the wealthy among us can actually afford it.

I am told by the voter's section of the auditor's office that only the entity putting the bond on the ballot can elect to put out a voter's pamphlet to educate the public on both facts pro and con. The Sultan School District elected not to do this and instead chooses only to educate you to their point of view as evidenced by the brochure recently mailed to us. Therefore, the fully educated voter is forced to really dig to get all the facts. This letter is an attempt to make this task a little easier.

The brochure we recently received fails to state the following critical facts: 1) the bond is for a 25-year period of time, turning the total cost per household (if you live in a home on in the middle of the brochure's scale) into $12,250. 2) The monthly cost per household will increase as the value of our homes increase.-á 3) Even though the enrollment in the high school may currently be up, overall enrollment in the District as a whole is less than the 2007 levels. 4) The enrollment in each school ebbs and flows.-á When the current high-schoolers graduate, there should be plenty of room in the high school because District enrollment overall is still well below pre-recession numbers. 5) The School District stopped collecting impact fees from new development in 2010, stating that due to the recession and drop in enrollment, they needed no new infrastructure. Impact fees the District charges for new construction remains at $0 today, yet they are asking us for this huge tax increase. 6) This bond will affect not only homeowners, but equally renters and local businesses (many of which are barely hanging on).

I do believe the continued maintenance of our current facilities is important. We recently passed an extension of a maintenance bond to fund this purpose. This new bond will be over and above the previous bond currently in place. This clearly means we cannot afford to maintain our current infrastructure.-á The passing of this huge infrastructure bond will necessitate even larger maintenance bonds in the future. In order to properly educate our children do we really need a new performing arts center and new play field in addition to the facilities we already have for these purposes in both our schools and parks?-á

I think the Sultan School District hopes voters hear "it's for the kidsGÇ¥ and will not investigate the details. I seriously hope our over-extended generosity does not overrun common sense.

I just found a website with more details.-á It is infosultanschools.org. Please be an informed voter.

Kay George, Sultan

Time to reinvest in schools, student with Sultan school bond

30 years ago the community invested in a new High School. 30 years ago very few of us would have imagined how technology would change the world but it has. Back then we never heard of STEM classes or imagined that we'd all be walking around with "computer phones' in our pockets. The bond that was passed in 1986 was a bare bones building that was built to house 350 students and didn't include athletic facilities or a performing arts auditorium. Back then electricity was cheap and the whole school was designed to use it. Now we're spending a ridiculous amount of money just to heat the High School. We can do better.

Fast forward to now and you'll see a school that's been lovingly cared for but is not up to standards for energy efficiency, technology and is housing almost twice the numbers of students it was built for. The award winning Sultan music program is still performing in the lunchroom. The matching money that Sultan qualifies for will basically pay for a performing arts auditorium and several other things creating a wonderful opportunity to finally improve that situation. This match is mainly from Department of Natural Resources timber harvest money.

If this passes each of the schools in the District will receive some basic support including new roofs to be sure that we protect the investments we've made over the years. As a taxpayer I appreciate the fact that the District has been diligently paying off previous bonds till now the Sultan school district taxpayer has almost no bond debt. I also appreciate that the behind the scenes support that is so critical to running a clean, safe, efficient school district is being addressed. We've needed a new transportation facility for over 30 years. This bond addresses those needs in a very cost efficient way by combining the transportation, technology support, maintenance, administration and storage into one pole building that will be on land near the current bus parking. This move will free up the district office so that we could have a place to have an alternative high school, free up space at the Middle school to create additional learning spaces, provide a transportation facility that's efficient and safe, provide much needed storage.-á

Let's reinvest in our schools and our community.

Looking to the future.

Debbie Copple, Sultan

High cost of Sultan school bond needed to support students

I would like to take a moment to comment about the upcoming school levy in Sultan. As someone who is retired and living on a fixed income I fully understand how some people might consider it as expensive and maybe even excessive. Well, folks, we must face the facts that without this new bond our school system will have to continue to try to house about twice as many students as it was built for and who knows what our growth rate might be in the future. What you may not be aware of is that if the levy passes, we will be eligible to receive matching funds of over $9,000,000.-á This will make it possible to add a performing arts center plus an additional-á gym. So, please take time to seriously consider your vote. Keep in mind that this will just take us back to the previous level we voted for and lived with in 2006.

Charles "OleGÇ¥ Carlson, Sultan

Sultan bond catches residents by surprise

The Sultan School Bond seems to have caught most everyone by surprise.-á This $47.77 million price tag is no small issue and will impact everyone is this community in a serious way for a long period of time.-á Yes, we all want "Strong SchoolsGÇ¥ and many of us are inclined to always "vote for the kidsGÇ¥ when asked to do so. However, there are times when it is just plain common sense to ask..... just what is this all about, after all this is a lot of money?-á The total annual Budget for the School District is in the area of $20 million per year, this Bond issue is over twice that amount in one chunk.-á A few years ago, our enrollment was over 2,000 which dropped and has not, as of yet, returned to that figure let alone exceeded that number.-á Seems like the pressure of-á "operating at 78% over intended capacityGÇ¥ would have been back then.-á And, is this Bond really aimed at addressing the issue of expansion anyway?

The Bond information brochure that was sent out seems to obscure the major expenditures of the monies.-á For example, under "Bond FactsGÇ¥, for the High School which is $32 of the $47 million ... the first item listed is expanded capacity for STEM classes (Note that it does not state "newGÇ¥ classrooms).-á The second item is construction of a "newGÇ¥ gymnasium.-á Third is construction of a "newGÇ¥ Performing Arts Center followed by costs to repair infrastructure to save energy and improve facilities for health and safety.

The single largest cost of this Bond issue is $11 million dollars for a "newGÇ¥ Performing Arts Center, at almost 25% of the entire Bond issue this one cost dwarfs the rest of the expenditures.-á This is followed by a "newGÇ¥ Gymnasium at about $10 million.

Returning to page one of the Bond Information brochure, and the statement that the Sultan High School is "operating at 78% over its intended capacityGÇ¥,-á is this Bond issue really about strong schools and voting for the kids, or more importantly, is this Bond issue really about addressing the issue of operating over capacity?

Al Wirta, Sultan