Supporters of the La Center School District capital facilities bond say “thank you” to those who voted yes during sign waving Feb. 15. The $48 million measure passed with close to 66 percent of the vote and will fund the construction of a new middle school for the district.
La Center is going to have a brand new middle school with a target by the 2020-2021 school year following the passage of a $48 million capital facilities bond by a vote in a special election Feb. 13.
As of the Feb. 15 count, with only an estimated 300 ballots left to count in Clark County, La Center’s bond proposition had 65.8 percent voting in favor of the bond, above the 60 percent supermajority necessary to pass.
The school district is planning to use those funds to put in an 81,000-square-foot middle school built on land to the east of the La Center Post Office that the district recently finalized purchase earlier this month. Although most of the funds would go toward that construction, about $1.1 million would go to improvements at the existing K-8 campus, turning it into an elementary school, according to a preliminary master budget and information from the school district.
The reasoning for the bond, as has been the case for districts across Clark County, is growth in the student population. According to data by the district for this school year, the district had a student population of 1,755 — 11.7 percent more than 2010. Information from the district states that a planned middle school facility would add capacity for 465 students, or about a quarter of the current student population.
La Center School District Superintendent Dave Holmes remarked that it was “incredibly satisfying” from the district’s perspective to see the continued community support for education, something he noted as being a constant in his roughly 30 years living in the area.
“In the arena of change, where we are growing and all of these new houses are being built, it’s nice to validate that that is still who our community is,” Holmes said.
Citizens for La Center Schools Chair Melinda Mazna commented that apart from the support and feedback she received, the sheer number of voters in a non-general election was positive as well, above what the 2017 general election had, Holmes commented. Fewer than 2,000 in the district voted in that election, while the total ballot count this election was 2,640.
“Not only did we pass it, but we passed it with a significant portion of our community voting for it as well,” Holmes remarked.
With the bond passage, Holmes said the district would be starting “immediately” on completing the financing phase and planning of the actual building, connecting the board with stakeholders to figure out what kind of basic parameters they want to see in the building.
Holmes promised “broad outreach to multiple stakeholders in our community” including those who helped to promote the bond in that stakeholder process, with those ideas going to an architect for the designing. Holmes added that the district would be putting out a request for proposal (RFP) for an architect while the rest of the process was going on to have much of the work needed to be complete before the first shovels hit the ground.
Holmes said the goal was to have the new middle school open by the 2020-2021 school year.
Apart from the necessary community support, Holmes also reasoned that the 18 months of deliberation over what would eventually become the bond measure helped familiarize the community with it.
“When the (measure) finally hit the ballot, pretty much everybody in town knew what we were planning to do,” Holmes remarked.
Although specifics are yet to be decided, Holmes remarked that regardless of how it looks it would be thrifty in nature, focusing on building quality and efficient use of funds in its construction. He said that was how La Center did things, referencing the La Center football stadium which received funding outside of the district raising property taxes thanks to grants, a donation and other community contributions.
Even though the district is increasing student capacity, Holmes said it was likely that the district offices would remain in a portable building. He said currently 375 students are already in portables at the K-8 campus, and with the 465-estimated capacity that would leave little room after students moved back into permanent buildings.
The school district’s demographic study had a projection calling for 800 students in the next five years. The catch is that state law only allows districts to use matching funds for so-called “unhoused” students which those in portables fall under — the district can’t use those funds on mere projections, Holmes said.
Though La Center’s school population is likely to continue to grow, for now those who worked on getting the bond to pass were thankful of the support, having a “thank you” sign waving following the measure passing.
“(There is) a huge connection between the schools and the community, and they just support each other continuously,” Mazna said. “It’s why we have people coming here to live.”
