What is a construction bond measure?Construction bonds are the main funding source available to

school districts for major capital projects. The state provides only a fraction of the cost for new construction or remodeling. It is the responsibility of school district taxpayers to fund con-struction and remodeling of schools. Once they are approved by voters, bonds are sold on the commercial bond market to raise money for construction. The bonds are then repaid, usu-ally over 20 years, in much the same way as home mortgages.

How does the high school project compare to other school districts?Direct comparisons are difficult because each project is unique. Tahoma is using state construction guidelines to establish

the square footage per student for the school, which provides adequate space but is not as large as schools in some of our neighboring districts.

Why is the high school so large? Why not have two smaller schools instead?There are academic advantages to having one large high school instead of two smaller schools. There are opportunities for

specialized classes that could not be replicated at two schools. Building one large high school also creates enough classroom space to allow the school district to use existing schools to accommodate all students in grades kindergarten-8. Building a second, smaller high school would leave the district in an overcrowded condition.

Why hasn’t the overcrowding issue been dealt with before now?The school district ran an unsuccessful construction bond measure in 2011. The most recent construction bond was

approved in 1997 for $45.5 million and was designed to meet enrollment and program needs through 2005. The school district has adjusted attendance areas, added portable classrooms, converted spaces such as music rooms and computer labs to regular classrooms in order to accommodate student enrollment growth. Few options remain other than to build new classrooms or adopt alternative schedules.

This is a lot of money. How can we be certain that it is spent appropriately?The school district’s finances are open to the public and receive annual state audits. The district has a long record of using

tax dollars responsibly. As it did with the 1997 bond measure, the school board will appoint a citizen oversight committee to monitor the use of bond measure funds.

Will this money be used to pay salaries of school employees?No. The money is for design and construction of school facilities only.

Why not do these projects over a longer time period and spread out the cost?There is an immediate need for more classroom space. The plan that would be implemented with approval of the bond mea-

sure will create enough new classrooms to house all students now and for the next decade. The most extensive and expensive part of the plan is to build a new high school. When it is completed, existing schools can be converted to new grade alignments. This project affects every school and must be carried out simultaneously.

How long will it take to build the new high school and make other changes?

Architects hired by the school district estimate construction of the new high school will take a little more than three years. The new school’s opening date is estimated to be September of 2017. Once the new high school opens, the grade realignment can take place at other schools and remodeling of Lake Wilderness Elementary can be completed. Safety and security improvements and major maintenance projects would be completed prior to the opening of the new high school.

Tahoma School District is asking voters to approve a construction bond measure that would eliminate severe overcrowding. The bond measure would pay for the following changes:

n Build a new Tahoma High School for grades 9-12, the alignment used by most area high schools.

n Remodel Lake Wilderness Elementary School to achieve enrollment of 550 students.

n Realign grade levels at four of the district’s eight schools to create two middle schools for grades 6-8 and six elementary schools, K-5.

n Greatly reduce or eliminate the use of portable (temporary) classrooms at all sites.

n Safety and security improvements to all schools.

n Create a regional learning center at the new Tahoma High School that would offer more education choices to high school students during the day and evening classes to the community through partnerships with Green River Community College and Renton Technical College.

VOTENOV. 5thWhy does the voter pamphlet have

a different tax rate?The King County voter pamphlet describes Propo-

sition No. 1, General Obligation Bonds, as having an estimated cost per $1,000 of $1.67. This information is not correct. It was based on an earlier estimate that since has been revised downward. The estimated cost per $1,000 is $1.47.

Frequently Asked QuestionsRESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER

Tahoma School District25720 Maple Valley-Black Diamond Road SEMaple Valley, WA 98038

NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE

PAIDKENT, WA

PERMIT NO. 244 ECRWSS

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND MEASURE

www.tahomasd.us Produced by the Tahoma Public Information Office. 425-413-3409

The bond measure would provide funds to build a new high school for 2,400 students on a 35-acre site adjacent to

Kent-Kangley Road SE on part of the existing Elk Run Golf Course. The new high school will be larger than the current Tahoma High School because it will accommodate ninth grade, along with grades 10-12. Ninth-graders are considered high school students and will benefit academically by being on the same campus as their peers in grades 10-12.

The new school will host cooperative learning programs with local community and technical colleges that will be available to high school students and community members as part of a regional learning center. The regional learning center will not add to the construction cost because it would be part of the high school’s expanded Future Ready initiative, which is designed to provide every student with a viable career plan. Classes for community members would be offered during

non-high school hours.The grades 9-12 high school will permit the school district

to realign its eight existing schools to eliminate overcrowding (see adjacent page for details). Each school also would receive safety and security improvements along with long-term main-tenance work that is too extensive for the district’s regular operating fund.

If the bond measure is not approved, the school board will begin planning for implemen-tation of alternative schedules

to relieve overcrowding. The board has identified two models that would be used: Year-round multi-track scheduling for elementary grades, which could begin as soon as 2015; and double-shift scheduling for junior high and high school.

As an example, one version of multi-track would establish four student schedules. Students would be assigned to one of the four schedules and could follow a calendar that has

them attending school 45 days and then taking a 15-day break. One of the four tracks would be on the break period at any given time, which reduces a school’s daily enrollment by about 25 percent. All students would still attend school 180 days a year.

Double-shifting divides the school day, assigning half of the school’s students to a morning session and the other half to an afternoon session.

Each option would be more expensive to operate than the current traditional schedule. Elective class choices would be limited on the double-shift schedule. Students on the year-round multi-track would attend school during the summer. None of the state’s school districts cur-rently use these non-traditional schedules.

New Tahoma High SchoolBuilt on a 35-acre portion of the “Donut Hole” property

west of Four Corners in Maple Valley, it will be a three story building, 347,543 square feet that includes classrooms, com-mon spaces, PE and athletic facilities. The school is estimated to cost $154 million. The high school football stadium will re-main at its present location at the existing high school. There will be practice facilities at the new school that include: two baseball fields, two softball fields, one track and football field, one soccer field, six tennis courts, two practice and PE fields. Fields that would be used for varsity competition (baseball, softball, tennis, soccer and track) would have lighting and artificial turf. The football field also would have artificial turf. Fields would be available for community use. Artificial turf is being used because it allows fields to be used daily with mini-mal maintenance. The school district and City of Maple Valley are working together to jointly develop and operate sports fields on the high school site and on adjacent city property.

The site is part of the Summit Pit property owned by King County. It is also known as the “Donut Hole” because it is county land that is entirely surrounded by the city of Maple Valley. The city intends to annex the property.

• Present Tahoma High School: Converted to a middle school for grades 6-8. Portable classrooms will be removed. There will be minor renovations to some of the existing rooms to accommodate middle school programs. The current football stadium and track will continue to be used for varsity high school sports but also will be used by the middle school.

• Present Tahoma Junior High School: Converted to a mid-dle school for grades 6-8. Portable classrooms may be relocated or used for non-teaching purposes, such as storage. There may be minor renovations to some of the existing spaces to accommo-date the middle school programs.

• Present Tahoma Middle School: Converted to an elemen-tary school for grades kindergarten-5. There will be modifications made to accommodate elementary school-age students. Lab spaces will be converted to regular classrooms. Outdoor play equipment and a covered play shed will be constructed.

• Present Cedar River Middle School: Converted to a com-panion elementary school with Shadow Lake Elementary, for grades 3-5. There will be modifications to accommodate elemen-tary school-age students. Lab spaces will be converted to regular classrooms. Outdoor play equipment and a covered play shed will be constructed. The school also will get a new roof, siding and floor coverings. Restrooms will be renovated. Gymnasium ventilation will be improved.

• Shadow Lake Elementary: Becomes a companion school with Cedar River, for grades kindergarten-2. The school will get new floor coverings in the gym. Portables will be removed. The playground will be improved if funds are available.

• Rock Creek Elementary: Grades kindergarten-5. Portables will be removed. The school will get a new roof and siding. The gym floor will be replaced. Traffic circulation will be improved.

• Glacier Park Elementary: Grades kindergarten-5. Portables will be removed. The school will get new siding. The gym floor will be replaced.

• Lake Wilderness Elementary: The 1986 portion of the school will be remodeled and six new classrooms will be built. The 1959 portion of the school will be demolished. Portables will be removed. The existing two gymnasiums will be retained. Parking and traffic circulation will be improved.

FinancingThe bond measure would raise $195 million and be repaid

over a 20-year period. It would be combined with about $20 million in state matching funds. It would cost an additional $1.47 per $1,000 of assessed property value than what is now paid by property owners. For the owner of a home valued at $300,000 by King County, the bond measure would cost an additional $36.75 per month.

To calculate a propery owner’s tax, first obtain the assessed val-ue of your property as set by the King County Assessor. Divide the amount by 1,000. Multiply that amount by $1.47 to obtain the annual tax. For example: A home valued at $300,000 by the King County Assessor would pay $441 annually: $300,000 divid-ed by 1,000 equals 300. 300 multiplied by $1.47 equals $441.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND MEASURE

Why is it needed?Tahoma School District has outgrown its classrooms. Rapid

population growth in the Maple Valley area, drawn by its growing reputation as a family friendly community, has pushed school enrollment beyond capacity. Families are attracted to this com-munity for many reasons, including the high quality education students receive in Tahoma schools. The community now must make a difficult decision.

About one-quarter of the district’s 7,640 students attend classes in temporary classrooms called portables. Three of its four elementary schools are among the 10 largest in the state, with

Lake Wilderness Elementary being the largest at more than 1,000 students. More than 1,200 students attend school at Tahoma Junior High, a building designed for 1,000 students. Tahoma High School has more than 1,700 students, with about 400 of those students attending classes in portables. Some of those portables are more than 40 years old and were purchased as surplus proper-ty from Kent School District for $1 more than 20 years ago.

The school board has decided there are two choices to deal with overcrowding: Build more classrooms or adopt non-tradi-tional schedules to use schools differently.

This is how the district will look if the bond measure is successful:

Sq. Ft. per Student in King Co. School Districts

SkykomishSeattleRentonShorelineVashon IslandMercer IslandBellevueHighlineLake WashingtonEnumclawTukwilaKentNorthshoreSnoqualmie ValleyFederal WayAuburnIssaquahRiverviewTahoma

School districtStudent

head count Total sq. ft.Sq. footageper student

4946,81014,2338,8081,5134,127

18,00918,08824,5904,4722,907

26,63219,357

6,01921,72614,34416,8813,1527,394

39,4339,260,9182,545,5571,541,673

264,712716,650

2,910,9602,850,3373,593,062

618,743376,060

3,357,6542,426,772

734,3052,609,7341,695,3171,977,255

365,081716,700

804.76197.84178.85175.03174.96173.65161.64157.58146.12138.36129.36126.08125.37122.00120.12118.19117.13

115.8396.93

2011 school district survey

ISSAQUAH

141.0%

101.5%

91.9%

90.1%

59.8%

54.6%

44.6%

33.9%30.1%

26.7%23.9%

19.4%

16.6%15.8%

7.2%

1.6%

-3.3%

139.4%

TAHOMA

RIVERVIEW

SNOQ. VALLEY

TUKWILA

AUBURNKENT

FEDERAL WAY

NORTHSHORE

LK. WASH.

MERCER IS.

ENUMCLAWRENTON

HIGHLINE

BELLEVUE

SEATTLE

VASHON IS.

SHORELINE

En

rollm

ent

Incr

ease

in p

erce

nt

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

King County School District GrowthStudent enrollment changes, in percentage, 1985 to 2010

What are the choices?

$195 MillionConstruction

Bond

NoConstruction

Option

$195 MillionConstruction

Bond

NoConstruction

Option