After years of planning, months of meetings and countless hours of
door-to-door canvassing for voters to approve construction of a middle
school, Washington voters said “no.”
But, the “no” vote does not mean the project won’t happen.
Tuesday’s 2,726 “no” votes forestall the preliminary work and construction, but does not kill the project.
“By law the project can’t appear on a ballot for two years,” said Washington Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Roach.
An
exception would be made if a project were to have a dramatic shift; no
such shift will be made. He explained no dramatic shift would be made
because the project was the result of extensive planning that
incorporated needs and ideas from local residents as well as project
architects and engineers.
“This is a well thought-through approach to meeting the educational needs of the school system,” Roach said.
While
the superintendent is disappointed with the result, he and other school
officials are not ready to give up meeting the educational needs of
Washington students.
The project was considered by some to be too
grand and would have resulted in an undue tax burden. The tax burden was
slated to be $0.4829 per $100 of assessed valuation.
While
opponents of the referendum cite the tax increase as cumbersome,
proponents claim delays of approving the project only will increase the
project costs.
“This would have been the absolute best time to
commence with the project as interest rates are down,” said Roach. He
estimated project cost (based on the formula used by architects) will
increase by as much as 5% a year.
“There was an incredible amount of planning and listening that occurred,” Roach noted.
He
added that the project became slightly broader as a result of the
mandatory tax hearings, during which members of the community helped to
fashion the project, designed to meet the immediate and future school
corporation needs.
The project included adequate learning spaces for 240
students for each grade 5 through 8 (which allows for approximate growth
of 20%); 960 total student population; gymnasium with 1,200 Seats; 5/6
and 7/8 separate cafeterias; field house with three basketball courts,
and high school varsity football field and track facility.
Approval of the project, according to Roach, would have positioned educators to meet the needs of the students.
“Educational
setting is different now than was the case a few years ago as more
space is needed to afford teachers the opportunity to challenge students
and allow students to accept the challenges by way of hands-on learning
and developing concepts while working in group settings,” Roach said.
He observed gone are the days when students sat in desks in rows.
Also
different is the needed space for students enrolled in special programs
such as Special Education and English as a Second Language.
“Washington
is representative of the United States in that immigration is happening
here,” Roach noted, “and to meet the needs we need more room.”
Additional
space is needed now as some elementary students meet in temporary
housing; that housing is not adequate to accommodate any growth in
numbers.
Had the measure been approved, a few more meetings would
have been conducted with parties necessary to initiate the work package
relative to specifics so bids could have been let. Initial indications
are that the bid package would have been ready during the spring/summer
of 2020, while construction would have started soon thereafter and the
project would have been completed 18 months after ground was broken.