By Ana Karen Perez Guzman
aperez-guzman@covingtonreporter.com
Kent School District residents on April 26 will vote on a $252 million bond referendum to fund projects throughout the district, including the construction of a new Covington Elementary School, a new elementary school in the Kent Valley and 20 additional classrooms at various schools.
King County Elections mailed out ballots this week. Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day.
If approved, the referendum would replace retiring bonds and would not increase the district’s tax rate.
The current levy for the Debt Service Fund is $1.41 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The district plans to sell a $60 million bond in 2016, another $60 million in 2018, $65 million in 2020 and the remaining $67 million in 2022.
Each series of bonds will be for 20 years, so the last of this bond authorization would retire in 2042, district spokesman Chris Loftis said.
The bond issue requires 60 percent plus one vote approval.
Every school in the district would benefit from the bond issue. Additional projects include $26 million for safety improvements and $24 million toward increasing energy efficiency, as well as roofing projects, updating multipurpose rooms, fields, tracks and courts at various schools. Some district facilities are more than 80 years old and need restoration, Loftis said.
The addition of two new schools, which would cost about $46 million each, and 20 classrooms across the district, at a $16.8 million price tag, would help address overcrowding in the schools.
“More classrooms mean improved student/teacher ratios,” Loftis said. “The research is clear, the more time individual students have with qualified, well trained, well equipped and caring teachers, the better the learning and the greater their success in school and in life.”
The improvement to fields, tracks and courts would benefit the public directly, Loftis said.
Athletic facilities will receive almost $18 million in renovations to make those facilities more comfortable for the public and safer for the students, he said.
In 2012, every school in the district, along with the facilities department, listed their construction and renovation needs.
For almost two years, a Citizens Bond Review Committee reviewed the projects.
The committee and the school district selected the options that would benefit the schools and community the best, without increasing taxes, Loftis said.
“All we can ask is for folks to look at the facts and vote as they think best for our children and our communities,” Loftis said.
For more information, visit the district’s website at kent.k12.wa.us.
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