(The Center Square) – Spokane County’s Deer Park School District is asking voters to pass a $55.1 million bond after a more costly proposal failed last February. If it happens again, some restructuring could occur.
Last February, DPSD asked voters to pass a $62 million bond, but the tax proposal failed to reach the required 60% approval rate. Now, they’ve returned with a trimmed-down request, hoping to expand facilities to afford students the same opportunities as kids in other districts.
The funding will build a new elementary and transportation facility if approved in November. The last proposal had four projects, but Superintendent Dr. Alexa Allman told The Center Square that DPSD is focusing on its immediate priorities amid concerns over inflation and rising taxes.
“Deer Park is growing; we have a lot of brand new construction, a lot of new housing developments going up,” Allman said. “Arcadia Elementary, [which] serves grades three through five, is already overflowing.”
The school was built to accommodate upwards of 350 kids, but Allman said it’s now over 430. The overcrowding resulted in some available spaces being split in half to accommodate the extra kids while telling newcomers that the district couldn’t withstand much more growth.
According to DPSD’s website, one teacher relies on a cart for her job due to the lack of classrooms, pushing it from one to another; the transportation facility is also nearly 100 years old, without wifi and or any meeting space, the drivers even rely on a bathroom sink for dishes.
Allman said the approval of this bond could change the tide for DPSD and provide students with the opportunities they deserve.
“The only other opportunity we have is to add more portables, and those come once you do heating, water, sewer and then building of the portable upwards of $500,000 to $600,000,” she said, “which we don’t think is a good use of our taxpayer money.”
With outstanding bonds expiring, the District anticipates the bond rate will decrease by $0.27 per $1,000 of assessed property value. However, this doesn’t mean the overall rate is decreasing.
While the bond failed last February, voters also approved an increase in the levy rate at the same time, essentially negating the decrease from the expired bonds if it passes this time.
Should voters approve this bond, Allman said the overall tax rate should stay the same. If voters reject the bond, it’ll drop the rate entirely, resulting in less taxes, but more issues for DPSD.
Allman said the $55.1 million request will allow for a future of growth in Deer Park and a safe learning atmosphere for students. She said education and the district serve the community in more ways than one, acting as a hub for development and interaction for all of Deer Park.
“The one thing that we actually have a little bit of control over is our local tax dollars,” Allman said. “This is about it for us for levying the bond; those are the only opportunities that we have for local control and local decision-making. The rest comes from the state or from the federal government.”
If voters approve the $55.1 million bond during the Nov. 5 General Election, DPSD anticipates completing the transportation facility around Fall 2026 and moving into the school by Fall 2027.
