The name's Bond. School Bond.

Wouldn't it be nice if school bonds were as popular as a James Bond movie?
It wouldn't even matter what was in the bond, the name alone would have millions of people (and billions of dollars) flocking to it!

Unfortunately the average voter spends more money on James Bond movies each year than they do on school bonds. And while not everyone needs to be a Bond fan to get MGM to churn out another movie every few years, we do need the majority of voters to be fans in order to get a school bond past.


As I'm sure you know, this February Pasco School District will be running a bond. Unfortunately there has been some confusion as to what exactly is to be on that bond. Well, never fear, Alice is here to help cut through the deception to the cold hard truth.

What is a bond for?
The short answer is "Bonds are for buildings, and Levies are for learning." 
The maintenance and operation levy we past last fall (like a boss!) was for routine maintenance as well as monies for learning opportunities like special programs and computers. The upcoming bond is meant to pay for new buildings (WHICH WE DESPERATELY NEED!).

So what is on THIS bond?

• 2 elementary schools (one on the west side, and one unknown)
• 1 rebuild Steven's Middle school
• Additional wing onto Curie Elementary
• Maintenance and safety (HVAC, transportation services, etc.)

Many people are under the impression that a new west/north middle school will be on this bond. I’m sorry to inform you that is not the case. The misunderstanding comes in part from the fact that Stevens will be replaced (which DESPERATELY needs to happen.) PSD is calling that a new middle school, when, in fact, it is replacing one. You can see in the video of the school board meeting where Steve Christiansen actually says we are getting a new middle school! Fact Check: FALSE. Sorry Steve.  

So on this bond we have simply two new elementary schools, an additional wing to an existing elementary, a rebuild of an old school (with possible added middle school capacity of we shift some of McLoughlin's students over to Stevens), and some maintenance stuff. Getting excited yet?

How was this bond decided?
Well there were a lot of meetings. A LOT of meetings. If you missed them, then we missed you. We need your voice. The board voted last spring on what they wanted on the bond. Then they got some community feedback about their decisions via letters and public comments. So they revisited their decisions several times, came up with several new ideas, pretended to have open debate, and eventually voted to do whatever the heck they wanted to do anyway!

Oops. Sorry. I was going to stick to the facts.
If you want to see the discussions that led to this decision, please watch the recordings of the meetings. 

Do we need these things?
YES! Of course! We need more elementary schools. We are so overcrowded we could fill four or five new elementary schools today! Yes! Of course Stevens needs rebuilt. Diamonds are Forever, but schools aren't. Eventually buildings will need to be rebuilt. Stevens Middle School is definitely ready. It is embarrassing and despicable that we have let students go to school in this state of disrepair for so long. Yes! Of course we need a new bus garage.... wait..... um......okay, not totally sure about that one. When more than half of our students are attending classes in portable classrooms, we have dozens of teachers teaching from a cart, and closets have literally been converted into classrooms, I'm not sure I care where the heck we park our buses at this point. Sorry bus people. Children > Buses.
You don't have to be a Spy Who Loved Me to see what's going on here. At the rate Pasco is growing, I'm afraid The World is Not Enough. We need to think big. Vote big. And build big. I'm not saying we need to be worried about Skyfall, but if you think we are crowed now, wait and see what we look like after another four years of timid building projects.

Are these our biggest priority?
Now that's a great question. If only someone had a Gold Finger and could just swoop in and pay for everything all at once. But they don't, so we must prioritize.

On paper overcrowding is greatest at the elementary level. So an argument can definitely be made for building more elementary schools. But adding on to Curie? I can't wrap my head around that one. I get that it was built to be added on to, but so were several of our new schools. And Curie is only 50 students over capacity. In this district that's nothing! Franklin and McClintock are also brand new and over capacity, but we aren't adding on to them. It's not that adding on to Curie is a bad idea. It's just that it doesn't make sense given how many other much bigger issues we have. We've got elementary schools that are 400 students over capacity! So why is Curie on the bond and not other schools? The truth is a group of Currie teachers came to a board meeting and asked for more space. AND GOOD FOR THEM! I totally applaud their proactive efforts. More of us should be doing this. They have every right to ask for what they want. But just because they were organized enough to ask, doesn't mean they are in the greatest need. When you listen to people discussing bond options, there is a strong Live and Let Die attitude that is poisoning people against each other. We need to find a way to look past ourselves and find what is best for everyone. Ask yourself, what would an outsider see as Pasco's biggest need? I don't think we should be settling for one lousy wing. I think we should be demanding an entire school, or two, or five.

Stevens is definitely a huge priority. It is a nightmare second only to New Horizons High School, and I for one am thrilled that it's being addressed. It must be done. But let's not pretend that it solves our middle school problem? We still need a fourth middle school. McLoughlin is still massive. When you have multiple classes sharing the same gym at the same time that's not a good thing. There are about seven hundred eighth graders currently enrolled. So if only 10% of the girls go out for the softball team, that's 35 girls on one team. How much playing time will they get? How included will they feel? One of our new superintendents outrageous goals is to have every student involved in extra curricular activities, but how can they when there are more children then there are spots on a team or club?

And then there are those pesky maintenance projects. I thought we just past as "Maintenance and Operations" levy. Why are we using bond money for maintenance? That is not what it is for. We already gave the district money to fix and maintain. Where did that money go???? Seriously. I'm asking for reals.

How much will it cost?
There will be a total of $119.7 million dollars in projects. 

This will cost us (the people of Pasco) $69.5 million dollars, and we'll receive $50.2 million in matching funds from the state. This brakes down into pennies per thousands of dollars of value on your home.

Are we getting a good financial deal on this bond?
A good deal consists of a good product for a good price. 
Are we getting a good price? YES! Our community is growing and our commercial tax base is bigger than ever, and interest rates are lower than ever. There has NEVER been a better time to pass a big bond.
But is is a good product? That is less clear. Yes we need more schools, but do we need these schools? Are we really focusing on what is most important? Are we doing enough?

Can we do any better?
Yes. We must!
  
You only Live Twice. We can re-run a bond if it fails.  It is expensive and risky.  It would have been nice to get this right the first time. It is too late to change what is on this bond. 
But if this bond fails, we can run a new bond in just a few months. A better bond. 

Do I want this bond to fail? No. No. No. No.
Do I want this bond to pass? Well..... gosh..... um...... I don't know.
What I want is to go back in time and have the school board write a better bond that will actually solve some of our problems and give the voters something worth voting for. Unfortunately that's not possible. 

Because the school board refuses to listen to the voice of their constituents, I'm afraid this upcoming bond is destined to Die Another Day. We are gambling our children's future at the Casino Royale.

Sorry folks, no time machine here.

 

I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't vote for this bond. But IF you chose not to, please be sure to email the board AND speak out at a board meeting and let them know why you voted NO. Help them understand what it is you really want so they have a better chance of getting it right next time.

The School board is afraid of Dr. No. They think the community won't support a big bond and they definitely think the community won't support a fourth middle school. Help them to see the light.

Please tell them how you really feel.


In the past things were different. I could understand why the school board was reluctant to be bold.  But Hill is gone now. The time to be timid is over. Yet some people are carrying on as if nothing has changed and they are still On Her Majesty's Secret Service. As I watched the school board negotiate options for the upcoming bond, I felt like I had A View to a Kill as they continued to suck the Living Daylights out of the bond by ignoring voters. School board members have repeatedly said they want to honor the work of the task force. They don't realize they have a License to Kill bad ideas no matter how much time or money was wasted creating them. We need to do whatever we can to make sure the voters Never Say Never Again.
 
I've compiled a lot of information For Your Eyes Only, well and for the eyes of all your friends and neighbors too, so please share!

From Pasco with Love