SEQUIM — Students need upgraded buildings in which to learn, said a proponent of a proposed $49.3 million construction bond for the Sequim School District.
The buildings need a little work, but the primary issues are personnel, teachers and drugs, an opponent of the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot said at a Wednesday forum.
Also speaking at the forum — the first of five the Clallam County League of Women Voters will host before the general election — were candidates for the Port of Port Angeles commission District 3 seat for three seats on the Sequim School Board.
‘Equitable schools’
“By voting yes, we give our children equitable schools to meet current class sizes and educational needs,” said Brandino Gibson, vice chairman of Citizens for Sequim Schools which advocates passage of the bond, during the forum at the Sequim Civic Center.
The buildings aren’t the point, said Bryan Carter, a Sequim resident and former small-business owner opposed to the measure.
“When you go to school, you go there to learn. You don’t worry about the building you are in,” Carter said.
He has “spoken to teachers, I have spoken to parents and I have spoken to the children of Sequim, and not one has said their education is not good because of the buildings,” he said.
“The main concern is the administration, the teachers and the drugs,” he continued. “That is why building new schools here will not improve the education or the children.
“Clean up the act at the school and then maybe go for a school bond to build additional schools,” Carter said.
Retrofitting, upgrades
There “is nothing wrong with the buildings,” he continued.
“I have been through a lot of them. They need retrofitting and upgrades — fair enough — but not new buildings.”
Gibson disagreed.
“Sequim kids need to be in safe, secure permanent buildings that meet with today’s and tomorrow’s education standards,” he said.
“Currently our kids do not have adequate equitable classrooms to learn in. We continue to add temporary buildings that house our youngest kids. Helen Haller has a main campus in sections that don’t even have . . . good useable bathrooms for them.”
And “our high school science classrooms are temporary buildings that aren’t even certified,” he said.
“We can continue ignoring these problems, but they are not going to go away.”
Third attempt
Two previous attempts to pass a construction bond to benefit the Sequim School District have failed.
Voters in April 2014 defeated a $154 million measure in April 2014.
A $49.2 million bond last February received 6,691 yes votes to 5,026 no votes — 57.59 percent to 42.89 percent — but fell short of the required 60 percent supermajority.
If the Nov. 3 measure gets the 60 percent supermajority needed for passage, the bond money would go toward building a new elementary school, renovating and expanding four existing facilities, and demolishing a fifth one.
The ability of the Port of Port Angeles to attract businesses to the Sequim area is limited, the two candidates running for the District 3 commission seat being vacated by John Calhoun said during Wednesday’s debate.
But one area of focus could be the John Wayne Marina, they said.
“The port has no properties other than John Wayne Marina in the Sequim area, so that makes it a little more difficult,” said Connie Beauvais, 64, of Joyce.
“It will greatly help the Sequim area if we further our businesses that are on current port property because those people need places to live, they need places to shop and they will infuse the economy here in Sequim and all over the county.”
Marina issues
Michael Breidenbach, 63, a Forks City Councilman, said that “when you look at the marina there, you see quite a few multiple uses.
“I think that the building should be converted and possibly made into some type of an overnight stay area . . . besides having a restaurant and a bunch of empty conference rooms.”
Beauvais is the manager of the Crescent Water Association and co-owner of Alpacas of Cedar Wind. She serves on the Charter Review Commission.
Running for the District 1 seat are Robin Henrikson, 37, and Heather Jeffers, 43; running for the District 3 seat are Jim Stoffer, 55, and Charla Wright, 50; and running for the at-large position are Heather Short, 38, and William Payne, 58.
Six candidates running for the Sequim School Board debated issues facing the district.
Hopefuls
Seeking the Position 1 seat are Robin Henrikson and Heather Jeffers, who was appointed to the seat in August 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Sarah Bedinger, who resigned in June that year.
Vying for the Position 3 seat are Jim Stoffer and Charla Wright.
Heather Short and William Payne are running for the Position 5 seat which will be vacated by Walter Johnson.
They discussed the job of a board member, Common Core standards, safety issues, positions on the proposed bond measure and teaching evolution in schools and their top priorities for the district.
Videos of the three separate debates can be viewed online at www.lwvcla.org.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
