News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters voters will decide in May whether to build a $20.5 million, 700-student new high school and convert the
existing one into a middle school.
The Sisters School Board decided 4-0 in their Monday, March 12, meeting to seek the bond in the May election. Chairman Bill Reed, who owns property adjacent to the proposed school site, abstained.
The decision came after many days of wrangling over whether to simply ask voters to build a new middle school and expand the existing high school later.
The current middle school is aged and considered overcrowded and inadequate in its facilities.
"Economically, it's cheaper to build that high school now and take care of our growth needs," said board member Steve Keeton.
Architects estimate a cost of $12.3 million to build a new middle school and about $8.8 million to upgrade the existing high school to accommodate future growth.
In its resolution, the board agreed that "if final costs are less than the bond amount, the difference will be used to reduce bonded indebtedness" -- in effect, returned to taxpayers.
No bond money is to be used to repair extensive water damage to the existing high school.
The board resolved Monday night to borrow up to $800,000 from Bank of the Cascades against the value of their Lundgren Mill property to fund those repairs.
Once that property is rezoned to industrial use and annexed into the city, the district plans to sell the land and repay the loan.
The actual cost of repairs is still being determined.
The board made no decision about the disposition of the existing middle school property, but members engaged in a lengthy workshop discussion Monday afternoon about selling the land and using proceeds to pay down the bond.
The bond figure was arrived at after several meetings with an architectural team, paring down the square footage of the facility and reducing the projected number of students it will serve.
Voters turned down a $22 million bond in November.
Board members were unanimous that building a new high school and converting the current one for middle school makes the best fiscal sense.
Heather Wester remained concerned that voters might say "no" to this bond, leaving the district unable to address its middle school needs.
"I have concerns that if we go this way and it doesn't pass, that we won't be able to pass much of anything," she said.
But Jeff Smith argued that "10 years from now, 20 years from now, people will look back and say we made the right choice."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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