Old, obsolete schools are bad for students, parents, and educators.  And bad for taxpayers. They present safety and health challenges and put our children at risk.  They are costly and inefficient to maintain and repair.  They make it hard to recruit and retain the best teachers.  They make it difficult to teach 21st century courses.  They reduce the value of property for local homeowners.  They make it hard for businesses to recruit employees to live and work in our community.

This bond replaces the bond that constructed Thunder Mountain Middle School, which will be repaid in 2016.  This new bond will keep tax rates flat, at current rates, a critical consideration for the Enumclaw School Board.  Even with this bond, we will continue to have the lowest tax rate of any adjacent school district.

This bond has the unanimous support from the business owners who worked on the Enumclaw Economic Development Task Force and is endorsed by the Enumclaw and Maple Valley/Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce’s, plus hundreds of local businesses and community leaders.

With enrollment forecasted to expand throughout the district by 17% by 2019, additional classroom space is badly needed.

Vote yes for our kids and our community!

Taxpayers are told, education is underfunded. This districts 10 highest paid employees are on par with Issaquah which is almost 4 times the size. Of the 589 employees in the district, 261 are listed as teachers. The state provides school districts $11,300 per student. Average class size at EHS is 30 students X $11,300 = $339,000. Average teacher salary is $78,714. $260,286 is left over and its not enough? Private schools with 100 or more students have a tuition at approximately $8,000 and generally score higher than public schools and do not have more non- teaching employees than teachers. Excuses given for tearing down most of the classrooms at EHS: Need to replace Roof, HVAC, lights, some siding, expand locker room, updated wiring and update 4 science classes. If these were concerns of a private business or homeowner, would they completely tear down the structure to fix these issues? Passage of this levy will cost $10,000 to the average homeowner. However farm and business owners will pay much more. School districts like all government agencies, need to understand that today’s taxpayers are struggling. Expensive fancy new schools do not make better students.

Reciting inaccurate numbers hurts our kids and our community! In Washington, the only way to fund facility expansion is passing bonds. Public schools are mandated to provide equal access and special needs services. Learn why our 50+ year old schools need to be rebuilt on the District web site. Get the facts about the numbers from Tim Madden, ESD Finance Director 360-802-7107.

Submitted by: Johna Thomson, Nancy Merrill, and Edward Hechter, www.4rKids4rFuture.com

The pro levy statement is classic pandering. Voters should verify if EHS is unsafe by viewing it themselves. No business or homeowner would tear down a building in such good shape. $339,000 per classroom could supply 3 teachers in each room and with remaining funds, reroof, rewire, install rooftop HVAC in each classroom, every year. Yet $339,000 per classroom is underfunding? Every government agency is out of control. School districts are no different.

Submitted by: Ted DeVol

Download the full text of the resolution

60% yes vote with a minimum turnout of 3,561 voters (Washington Constitution, article VII, section 2(b))