Thursday, April 24, 2008

Why does the district need more money?

I am now really concerned when I read Carrie McAfee's letter of April 11, 2008, indicating that the new Lynnwood High School needs the funding that removing the Lynnwood Athletic Fields would bring. ("Fields will be moved to new site," Enterprise)

What happened to the $140 million that we approved February 2006 for the new school? I support schools, but I now believe that we are not getting good information about their funding.

If the Edmonds School District needs additional schools, why not inform the voters and let us vote. We have always supported schools! Now it is even easier, requiring only a 50 percent vote!

Again, does the district need more than $140 million for a high school? It seems to be an awful lot of money!

K Guedea
Bothell

Editorial: There are a lot of people in "Bothell" commenting about the Edmonds School District. This unincorporated portion of Snohomish County appears to be a hotbed of activism. Bravo. At least some people are paying attention.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

For purposes of comparison: Pasco School District voters (after several tries) approved (2005 or '06) a bond measure for a second high school. Chiawana High will be 325K square feet of space on 80 acres of ground, designed to house 2200 students and will cost $102 million. Before you come to an instant conclusion, consider that the cost of labor is less than in the Puget Sound area. The cost of the new building includes furnishings, computers, gyms and a quality theatre space. Oh, yes, and athletic fields which will belong solely to the school district.

The Richland School District also is finishing major remodels of its two high schools. I can't immediately find the figures but it seems to me that they are each in the $35-40 million range (though that might be a low-ball figure).

Anonymous said...

The Bothell residents are not doing their homework about the details of the $140 million: It ALSO funds the new Meadowdale Middle and $16 million in smaller projects. The budget for new LHS is less than $100 million.