It's not déjà vu; Cheney Public Schools trying again at failed February bond on November ballots
Sep. 19—Voters across Spokane County rejected school bonds seven months ago that would have paid for major projects such as new schools, repaving parking lots and remodeling buildings.
Each of the five school districts seeking to pass bonds failed to garner the 60% support needed, leaving them to ponder the next steps to address dilapidated facilities, outdated infrastructure and, in the case of Cheney Public Schools, overcrowding.
Spokane Public Schools and Riverside School District decided against asking voters to reconsider this fall. West Valley is hoping a capital levy that requires a simple majority to pass will generate taxes to pay for some of its projects. Deer Park is asking for a smaller bond with fewer projects and a cheaper price tag associated.
Cheney's approach may give voters a wave of déjà vu when perusing their busy ballots. Its November bond request mirrors the failed February proposal seeking $72 million to complete the same construction projects. The discernible difference is a decreased estimated tax rate due to fluctuating property values, and a change in the behind-the-scenes strategy this time around.
District administration sent out surveys and worked to emphasize the effect the bond's passage and subsequent construction projects would have on the Cheney and Airway Heights communities, Cheney Superintendent Ben Ferney said.
"The process, the grassroots community-based efforts, the road shows, the meetings all went really well. But where we could tweak and focus more is on the impact, the why and what does that bring us?" Ferney said. "It was really good, because it's about getting it right, not being right."
The district hopes its shift in strategy will earn them 5.5% more than their February measure, which failed even though 54.5% voters said yes. Bonds require 60% voter approval to pass; levies, a simple majority.
In surveying residents postmortem, the district found the economy and a desire for more detail on bond projects fueled voters' lack of support.
"I understand that. Taxes affect folks, and it's not easy times right now for a lot of families and we respect that," Ferney said. "That's why we get a chance to be able to say, 'Hey, here's what you're going to get out of this whole thing,' and hopefully we do a good job of investing in our kids, in the future, and that's where we just need a little push."
'Here's what you're going to get'
With its $72 million bond, Cheney hopes to complete a laundry list of projects around the sweeping district that spans 380 square miles from the southwestern corner of the county, including the cities of Cheney and Airway Heights.
The district's plans include a new elementary school in Airway Heights to brace for an expected population boom in the city, as well as buying plots of land for a future secondary school, elementary school and transportation site so the district has room to grow with enrollment projected to increase.
The population increase will not only put a strain on schools, but stiffens the competition between developers looking to buy land. There's a sense of urgency from the school to buy the land now before that competition gets too fierce.
"As we continue to grow, we look to the future and buying that size of land for those areas," Ferney said. "As the communities grow, developments grow, the available land that we can purchase becomes more challenging."
Also on the project list is Cheney High School, which will see stadium renovations on bleachers and ADA accessibility if the bond passes.
Elementary schools Salnave and Windsor would see improvements to bus loops and kitchens, and the district would connect sections of the buildings at several other schools. Cheney also plans to replace several outdated heating and cooling systems, such as boilers so old replacement parts have to be custom made.
The projects come at the cost of $72 million, at an estimated rate of 45 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value over the 21-year life of the bond. If passed, that'll add on to the tax rate of $1.97 per $1,000 when accounting for the levies that did pass in February.
The lion's share of bond spending would go towards the construction of the Airway Heights elementary school, anticipating a population boom as more houses are built and people work at the Amazon facility or Fairchild Air Force Base.
"The main portion of the bond is for the overcrowding that we're having. Airway Heights is one of the fastest growing suburbs in the country," Ferney said.
Sunset Elementary, the sole elementary school in Airway Heights, is already at 121% of its intended capacity, with three portables serving as six classrooms. Some students living in Sunset's bounds are bussed to other schools, such as Windsor or Snowden, each around 7 miles from Sunset.
"We'd like them to be able to go to Sunset; there's just not room for it," Ferney said.
With the acreage on First Avenue and Craig Road already purchased in Airway Heights' outskirts and a sign erected advertising the future school, the district is looking to build a "Ford or Chevy. We don't need a Porsche," Ferney said. They're hoping for a space to house 500 students with a gym big enough to serve the community as well as the school.
"One of the things we did learn from Airway Heights is they don't have a really good place for performances or music for local folks," Ferney said. "And so we do want to make a larger gym in the school that then can connect to the cafeteria, so people could use that and rent it in a facility use agreement."
The lofty 60% supermajority voter approval isn't the only hill the school district has to climb to pass a bond. Bond measures must also meet a threshold for voter turnout in order to validate the vote; the ballots cast in a bond election must be at least 40% of the voters in the last general election.
With a number of high-profile races on the November ballot, including presidential, gubernatorial and a collection of initiatives, Ferney expects high voter turnout.
"You never really know until the day of the election, but we do think that that's going to help us," Ferney said.
If the district waited until after November to run a bond, Ferney said it runs the risk of not garnering enough turnout to meet 40% of the voters he expects to cast ballots in the November election. In general, special elections called in February, April or August have less turnout than November.
Ferney is hopeful that high voter turnout combined with an impact-focused messaging strategy and more details on what the district seeks to accomplish with their tax revenue will be the push they need to avoid a repeat of February's failure.
"We want people to be able to turn out, so we think that that's going to help us," Ferney said. "But you never really know until the day of the election."
Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
