Community and D21 School Board Discuss Next Steps After School Bond Setback
The Dalles, Ore., December 7, 2023 — North Wasco County School Board held a work session on December 6th, 2023 to discuss the previous bond effort and next steps for a future bond effort.
The meeting was a collaborative effort which gave the public and the board a chance to reflect on the bond effort and highlighted how the bond performed, what went well, what could have been done differently and what action should occur next. The school bond to replace the high school, increase safety and hands-on learning saw a 46.77% voter turn out with 3,231 votes yes for a new high school and 3,598 votes no for a new high school. With just 367 votes separating the two and deciding the fate of the bond.
Screenshot of voter turn out from Oregon.gov.
It was attended by about thirty people. Others in attendance included Scott Hege, Wasco County Commissioner, Mathew Klebes, City Manager, and Darcy Long, City Councilor.
Next Steps
Next steps include polling of the public to get a better understanding of what the community wants, identify which stakeholders are not at the table, redo the facilities report (which will take two years), continue to tell the story of the school’s need for improved facilities, integrate the learning from the past bond effort, and recruit new leadership for the political action committee.
A $4 million seismic grant hangs in the balance.
The previous effort qualified for $4 million from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). That grant is contingent on a facilities condition assessment that the district owns. It is a building audit with electrical engineers, HVAC specialists, architects, and other construction professionals to conduct a full assessment of the building while consultants gain feedback and insight on the educational adequacy of the space they are using.
The grant expires on December 14th, of 2023, however ODE has indicated that the school district could be eligible for an extension until May of 2024. The grant award has also been increased to $6 million. If the board chooses to run another bond in the next election cycle they stand to gain this grant. If the board chooses to not run on this election cycle they must embark on another facilities condition assessment and long range facilities plan process that would take upwards of 18 months in order to be eligible for that same grant again in the future.
Concerns include not losing out on grant monies, and the fact that the longer the bond takes to pass the more expensive the bond will become due to compounding inflation.
“What did we learn? The community needs more details and clarity on funding requests. One of the things that happened is that while the information was available, there was a lot of it and it’s very difficult to go through that information to find specific answers. There is also a perceived trust issue between the community and the school district. The distrust is left over from an entirely different administration. While that distrust may be rooted in legitimate reasons from the past, it doesn’t reflect the currently elected and employed leaders of the school district.” said Robin Denning, PAC President.
“I think the transparency was there for those who wanted to find it,” said Megan Thompson, parent and Community Advisory Committee member for the school bond effort. “I think the documentation, the fliers, the website was all there. I think there’s just people that aren’t going to do it. I think people that decided they didn’t want it to be transparent decided it wasn’t going to be.”
“There was consolidation of the understood need for a new high school. Much of the sentiment consolidated and reiterated the community’s input which was to run the bond on a single high school. Some recognized during the meeting that incorporating renovations and demolition may have made it too complex, however there is a consolidated consensus of the need for a new high school in The Dalles,” said Denning.
Some potential ideas for a reduced scope bond initiative were also presented at the meeting. However the new plan landed somewhat poorly and received little enthusiastic support from the audience which seemed quite mute and cautious about the proposed plan.
A New Scope
The new scope would include significant renovations and a seismic upgrade to the Wahtonka building, resulting in a 165,000-square-foot high school, with a 950-student capacity, a 100-student increase over the current capacity.
Current issues with the Wahtonka school include construction issues (many rooms don’t have windows), layout, HVAC system, and asbestos concerns.
Factoring in inflation renovations would cost about $400 per square foot, and new construction at $600 per square foot.
“Putting that into the calculator without adding the costs of the groundwork, parking spaces, sports complex, sidewalks and other infrastructure, the building cost at that square foot price comes out at around $92 million,” said Denning.
For reference, the previous school bond totaled $140 million and included entirely new facilities.
“I would like to encourage the community to stay involved in this process and in this conversation. Your opinions are valuable and needed at the table. At the meeting we were reminded that the City gave the College more than $3.5 million in assistance and we should encourage our City and County leaders to move on this issue with urgency,” said Denning.
A recording of the meeting is available below or by clicking here.
