PORT TOWNSEND — The passage of a $40.9 million bond issue for the construction of a new Grant Street Elementary School would increase the quality of life in the city, according to a presentation Monday.
“It’s often said around here that we need some new families with young kids because our demographics are getting kind of old,” Jeff Randall said to about 50 people at a meeting of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. Randall chairs It’s Elementary, a residents’ group advocating passage of the Port Townsend School District bond.
“People considering a move here rely on good schools for their kids, which is a piece of infrastructure that is important to our economy,” he said.
The district has placed the measure on the Feb. 9 ballot to subsidize a new facility to replace the aging Grant Street Elementary School as well as make districtwide improvements in safety, security and access for disabled people.
The school at 1637 Grant St. was constructed in 1956 for around $400,000, Randall said. It was renovated twice: once in 1966 and again from a 1992 bond issue that also funded the construction of Blue Heron Middle School.
Grant Street now has 33,000 square feet of space and needs twice that amount to provide educational support for a growing enrollment, Randall said, with plans for the new school to have 65,000 square feet.
In order to maintain continuity of education, the new facility would be constructed on the current athletic field behind the old building, and when complete, the current structure would be demolished to accommodate a playground and recreation area.
Aside from the physical change, the district would configure its grade levels in a more conventional way.
Grant Street, which now includes kindergarten through grade three, would take on fourth and fifth grade, which are now housed at Blue Heron. The latter school would then consist of grades six through eight, the traditional middle school configuration.
The high school, with grade nine through 12, would not change.
“Our community has gotten really good use out of this facility,” Randall said of the school.
“Our kids are not suffering, but we would be offering them a better experience in a newer building.”
Randall said he expected the new building to accommodate educational needs for 50 to 75 years.
If voters approve the bond, the new school is projected to open in time for the 2018-19 school year.
The measure will need a supermajority — 60 percent plus one vote — for passage.
In addition, Port Townsend, with 11,472 registered voters, will need 2,675 voters to return a ballot to validate the election.
If voters approve the measure, property tax levies would begin in 2017.
In Port Townsend, a levy rate of $1.24 per $1,000 assessed property value would be expected to be required for 20 years to finance the bond.
Property owners are now paying a levy of 54 cents per $1,000 assessed value for a capital improvements levy that will be retired in 2016.
That means the new measure, if approved, would result in a net increase for capital improvements of 70 cents per $1,000 assessed value, translating to a $203 per year increase for a $290,000 home, the district’s median home value level.
Monday’s presentation was the first of nine such events to take place before the election to neighborhood groups and service clubs.
For a complete schedule, go to tinyurl.com/PDN-Grant-St.
For more information, go to www.itselementarypt.org or call Randall at 360-385-2575.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
