Kindergarteners at Maple Grove Primary School under the new covered play structure.
As remote learning is in full swing throughout Battle Ground Public Schools, maintenance and operations crews in the district have been completing multiple projects paid for through levy funds. Part of the district’s five-year plan for improvements, the projects preserve district assets, enhance learning opportunities and improve safety for students.
Interval projects that have been completed recently — or are scheduled to begin soon — include the installation of new roofs at Amboy Middle School and the “B” Building at the Lewisville campus and new carpets replaced 50-year-old flooring at Prairie High School. Over the summer, the district prepared and painted the exterior buildings on the Daybreak campus. Replacing roofs and HVAC systems, repairing sidewalks and walkways as well as replacing siding, floor coverings and countertops are all part of the district’s preservation efforts.
According to a news release from the district, nearly all of the 295 school districts across Washington State rely on levy funding to provide students programs and services. While education funding from the state provides for some regular maintenance and custodial supplies, it is not nearly enough to adequately maintain and preserve buildings, making levy dollars a piece of solving the school funding puzzle.
“Unfortunately, some maintenance projects get delayed when levies fail,” Battle Ground Public Schools’ Director of Facilities and Operations Kevin Jolma said in the release. “Many of the projects that are being completed now were scheduled for completion in previous years, but were delayed until now because of budget constraints."
Jolma and his team work to make public dollars go “as far as possible” by seeking alternative solutions to building from scratch whenever it is possible. Because the district contracts with local companies to complete many of these necessary projects, levy-funded projects also help support the local economy.
The installation of fencing at Battle Ground and Prairie high schools and the Pleasant Valley campuses was completed earlier this year as part of the district’s mission of improving campus security. Two years ago, the district began making security improvements to campuses after contracting with 4Pointe LLC to provide an assessment for enhancing the safety and security of district school buildings. Based on the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, the assessment included recommendations to enhance school buildings.
Other improvements such as updated technology infrastructure, new lighting systems and covered play areas enhanced the learning environment for students. The libraries at Battle Ground and Prairie high schools were revised to make more efficient use of the available space, as today’s high school students use libraries and media centers more for access to technology than they do for access to printed books.
Maple Grove Primary School has a new covered play structure that enables students to enjoy outdoor recess, even during the rainy winter months. A similar covered area is coming to the Yacolt Primary School campus, with the project scheduled to get underway in the spring of 2021.
Other levy projects have improved access to resources on school campuses. For example, Glenwood Heights Primary and Laurin Middle School were recently connected to the public sewer system. The campuses had been on septic since they were built in 1956 and 1965 respectively. Connecting them to the sewer system will allow for more student growth and free up 2.5 acres of outdoor recreational space once inaccessible due to the septic system.
The current BGPS levy expires in 2021. The district’s board of directors recently unanimously decided to dip into BGPS’s reserve funds and put a replacement levy before voters. The new levy will be less than the current school levy rate.
According to the news release, BGPS has the lowest property tax rate of all K-12 districts in Clark County. While other districts rely on multiple levies to fund technology, transportation, capital projects and educational programs, Battle Ground funds all these elements out of a single levy.
The educational programs and operations (EP&O) levy will be on the Feb. 9, 2021 special election ballot. If approved, the new levy will replace the one that expires at the end of 2021. It is estimated that property owners in the district will see a decrease in their local schools tax rate of 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in 2022 compared to this year’s 2020 rate. The local levy rate is projected to be $1.95 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2022.
