On Nov. 23, the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) board of directors unanimously approved recommendations from the Long Term Facilities Task Force and has put Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce in charge of taking action on them.
Currently, Pierce said the district has two main challenges: aging facilities and the need for for more classroom capacity. The task force was created to come up with long-term strategies to address these challenges.
There were 63 members of the community on the task force, with representatives from each of LWSD’s 51 schools, parents, district staff, local businesses and more.
“We wanted to make sure it was a good representative group,” Pierce said.
The task force worked for almost a year before presenting the board with its recommendations on Nov. 9.
“It was a huge commitment on their part but extremely valuable and has given us a pathway to move forward,” said board vice president Nancy Bernard in an LWSD press release, referring to the task force’s nearly yearlong efforts.
School board member Chris Carlson added in the release that the task force’s recommendations were “spectacular, very useful to us.”
According to the task force’s report, which is available to view online at tinyurl.com/qz8ozcr, the overall approach the group recommended is for the district to build new schools.
LWSD’s enrollment has grown by an average of 625 students each year over the last five years, the release states, and the task force recommended a list of specific projects to meet the district’s needs through 2029-30, while also suggesting potentially innovative projects to explore.
Pierce said the task force also provided specifics for what they recommend the district do at certain steps — such as when they are doing community engagement or planning or building school facilities. She added that they provided recommendations for the short term in addition to the long term.
Several task force strategies involve efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the release states. Recommendations provided strategies to lower costs, such as specific cost-effective design principles. In addition, throughout the report, the task force recommended ways to increase community engagement in district facilities efforts.
The task force report also recommends updating or replacing aging schools should focus on those schools that can also add more classrooms.
Pierce added that the task force approached its job comprehensively, not focusing on one particular area.
“They’re looking at the entire district,” she said.
The LWSD press release states that the district has begun to implement the group’s recommendations. For example, the school board adopted a legislative platform, including the task force’s recommendations concerning school construction sales tax and the state school construction funding assistance formula, the release states.
Pierce said the district has also convened a bond advisory committee to provide feedback and advice on a short-term and long-term funding strategy and project timing plan that is aligned to the task force’s recommendations. She said the committee includes parent and community representatives, including members of the task force, as well as business and city government representatives.
An initial draft for the district’s financial strategy was presented to the board on Monday and the next step is a community survey, Pierce said.
“We’re really working toward developing a comprehensive plan,” she said.
She said the final draft of the financial strategy is scheduled to be presented to the board on Jan. 11, 2016 and the board is scheduled to take action on Jan. 25, 2016.
Part of the financial strategy is a potential bond measure. Pierce said the district is considering the possibility of putting one on the April 2016 ballot.
She said the potential bond would include funding projects in all of the district’s learning communities.
While impact fees and state construction assistance can provide some funding to build new schools, a bond measure is the district’s primary option to provide adequate funding, the release states. State construction assistance, for example, is only awarded once the district has secured full funding via a bond measure or other means, the release continues. That source provides only a small portion of the funds needed per school.
