Multnomah Co. Online Voters' Guide
November 2006 General Election

Reynolds School District

Measure No. 26-88

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Reynolds School District continues to grow, with 1,312 more students enrolled since 2000. Rapid growth is projected at the east end of the district.

Community Involvement
Beginning in 2004, over 50 community members reviewed district facilities and enrollment trends. The Task Force prioritized the district needs contained in this $115 million measure. These projects increase capacity to meet projected enrollment, protect the investment in current facilities and provide comparable learning environments across the district.

High Schools
Reynolds High School is one of the largest high schools in the state with 2,800 students. Projected enrollment is 3,165 high school students by the year 2010.

This bond will add classrooms, expand the media center and computer lab, and make capital improvements at RHS.

The bond would ease high school crowding by:

• Building a magnet school on the Edgefield property serving up to 500 students with career-focused training.
• Making improvements at the Natural Resources Academy, an off-campus career-focused program near Corbett.

Students in these programs attend RHS on alternating days. Students have career training and full access to RHS programs (e.g. advanced and elective classes, athletics and clubs) without building duplicate specialty classrooms or a second comprehensive high school.

Middle Schools
Enrollment at Walt Morey is projected to grow by 12.7% in five years. This bond would build a magnet school on the Edgefield property to meet enrollment growth. Other projects include: expanding computer labs and media centers, adding covered play areas, updating entry vestibules, updating electrical, HVAC and structural systems.

Elementary Schools
A new school will be built on the Edgefield property to accommodate enrollment growth on the district's east end.

Comparable Learning Environments
Wilkes, Fairview and Troutdale Elementary Schools, built over 75 years ago, are in need of major repairs or replacement and do not meet current district facility standards. This measure would replace Wilkes and make extensive upgrades at Fairview and Troutdale Elementary Schools. Other elementary improvements include: adding classrooms for all-day kindergarten programs, upgraded libraries and computer labs, covered play areas and specialty classrooms.

Land Purchase
The bond would finance the purchase of:

• 53-acres near Edgefield, where rapid enrollment growth is projected. The site is large enough for two schools and other small programs.
• Four Corners School will serve up to 120 special needs students, improve services for disabled students and reduce expenses within Reynolds School District.

Accountability
The Reynolds School District will report on bond projects monthly to citizens at the regular School Board meeting and through updates to the community. Community participation will be sought for design teams for new schools and the Wilkes replacement. Bond funds can only be used for capital improvement projects, not operating expenses.

Cost to Taxpayers
Taxpayers would pay an average of $1.73 per $1,000 of assessed value. On a home assessed at $200,000, taxpayers would pay an average of $346 per year or about $0.95 per day.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR

Dear Voters,

As the mayor of Portland, I encourage you to support your neighbors by voting for the Reynolds School District Capital Improvements Bond. The cities of Fairview, Gresham, Troutdale, Wood Village, and Portland have experienced tremendous growth in population. Businesses are thriving. The schools, asked to welcome more and more students, are struggling with crowded buildings and safety concerns. These pressures make it increasingly difficult for Reynolds to deliver quality education to kids in facilities that are compromised by design and age.

Strong local schools contribute greatly to the health of cities, and the economic benefit schools provide has been proven time and again. Businesses tell us they want to move to communities with strong schools. Likewise, parents want to live and work in communities that support education. And, great local schools help develop the next generation of community members who will give back to their cities in innumerable ways.

The commitment Reynolds is asking you to make to improve your schools, guarantees a long-term investment in East Multnomah County. The proposed grade 6-12 magnet school will provide career programs and career training, a focus businesses tell us schools currently lack. Students graduating with this training are less likely to live in poverty or enter the social services system and are more likely to become fully employed, contributing back to their communities in positive ways. This bond also will upgrade computer labs and libraries to ensure students have access to first-rate technology and research materials in order to compete in a global economy.

Great schools mean a better quality of life for the entire community, not just for those with children. A vote for this bond is a vote for the future work force of our cities, the leaders of tomorrow, the business owners and the residents who enjoy the benefits of living in great cities like ours.

Sincerely,

Mayor Tom Potter, Portland

(This information furnished by Donna Edgley,
Neighbors for Reynolds Kids)

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR

Crowded Schools?
Yes and more kids are coming!
What to do? Vote Yes on #26-88

Relieve High School Crowding
Add Classrooms to RHS
Add New Media Center & Computer lab to RHS
Add New off Campus program at Edgefield site

Improve other Off Campus sites & programs

Relieve Middle School Crowding
Build New School at Edgefield site

Relieve Elementary Crowding
Build New school at Edgefield site
Add Classrooms to existing schools for all day Kindergarten

Comparable Facilities?

All Reynolds Kids deserve similar learning environments at any Reynolds School.

What to do? Vote Yes on #26-88

Add Classrooms
Add specialty classrooms to existing schools
Add Covered Play Areas
Remodel Libraries
Remodel Computer labs
Make Infrastructure Improvements

Old, Old Buildings?

Yes! Wilkes, Fairview and Troutdale Elementaries are our oldest buildings, all built before 1926 and need extensive repairs.

What to do? Vote Yes on #26-88

Replace…..

Wilkes Elementary with a new, modern, efficient building on the same site. Community members will help design the new school and honor the Wilkes tradition.

Renovate…..

Fairview and Troutdale Elementaries to preserve the good parts and replace the sub-standard sections so the schools will function for another 50 years.

What will it cost?
About a dollar a day

Your dollar a day will buy $115 million of new schools, renovations and repairs to Reynolds School District facilities. These projects will extend the life of our buildings and give us classroom capacity for many years. The tax rate is expected to be $1.73 per $1000 of assessed value or $346 a year on a $200,000 house. The tax rate will lower as new houses pay their share.

Why Now?

A citizen review committee has studied all of the Reynolds Schools for two years and made these recommendations. If we wait, these same projects will still be needed in 2008 and will cost much more. Your kids can't wait.

Vote Yes on #26-88

(This information furnished by Donna Edgley,
Neighbors for Reynolds Kids)

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR

Our Kids Can't Wait

During the past two years a facilities committee made up of community members, parents, school board members and staff walked through every room in every school in Reynolds School District. We analyzed the conditions of the schools, measured the enrollment data and devised a plan that assures every school in every neighborhood has safe and comparably equipped buildings. Through careful planning and evaluation, we developed a plan encompassing a combination of new buildings, added classrooms and modernized infrastructures that will make our buildings appropriate learning environments for all our students. The plan meets the needs of projected enrollment and program essentials for the next ten years.

The bond measure buys added technology at all schools, with the high school and the middle schools getting a new library media center and enlarged computer centers respectively. It keeps classroom sizes amongst the smallest in the state and allows the space needed for our youngest students to have an added half-day of education. It eliminates serious safety issues at Fairview and Troutdale Schools, while building a brand new school at Wilkes, at a cost only slightly more than the essential remodeling that is needed there. The bond measure also builds an additional combined high school and middle school facility to relieve crowding and a new elementary school all on the recently purchased Edgefield property. The bond measure pays for the purchase of the Edgefield property from Multnomah County.

Now is the time to take this step for our children. While the cost of this plan is not cheap, it is affordable, less than $1.00 per day. If we wait, the cost will increase from $115 million in 2006 to more than $138 million in 2008. Our kids can't wait. Not a dime will be spent on administration or staff salaries, not a penny on anything other than our buildings.

Vote Yes on #26-88.

Kathy Farlow
Cliff Hirsch
Rick Phelps
Enrollment and Facilities Task Force

(This information furnished by Donna Edgley,
Neighbors for Reynolds Kids)

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR

Reynolds High School is crowded with almost 2,800 students an in need of repairs and expansions, particularly of the media center and computer lab. The high school was not build to accommodate the current number of enrolled students, so all the common areas are undersized.

This plan of adding off-campus academic-focused programs will offer advanced career training. Reynolds High School has a career pathway model, which enables juniors and seniors to explore career program areas while preparing for work or for college. Using this model to provide up to 500 students with the opportunity to study a career and still retain access to the advanced classes, elective and activities, such as Leadership, Athletics and Clubs provides relief and expands the offerings available to students without the expense of a second high school, which would require at least 60 acres of land and is projected to costs $80 million.

The current proposal is to spend $24 million to update Reynolds High, improve Natural Resources Academy, build a new off-campus facility and improve Reynolds Learning Academy. This plan:

• Maintains a large range of options at an affordable price by having only one comprehensive high school
• Manages student growth in the most affordable manner for taxpayers
• Expands the high-level career-focused programs that students and employers desire
• Provides for improvement of facilities at all grade levels, while focusing significant resources to the high school crowding problem.

We need to address the high school crowding today before an additional 400 students enroll. Please join me in supporting Measure 26-88.

John Nelsen, Parent

(This information furnished by Donna Edgley,
Neighbors for Reynolds Kids)