t $300,000 added to each of the four years in proposal.
The proposed levy for the South Kitsap School District will cost a few cents more than anticipated.
Assistant superintendent for business and support services Terri Patton said she was approached by school board vice president Keith Garton and member Jay Rosapepe about any additions that should be made to the levy.
Patton said she consulted with others in the district and determined that replacing the roof at Orchard Heights Elementary was the greatest need.
The west wing was replaced in 2006, but the east wing hasn’t been re-roofed since 1975.
District facilities director Tom O’Brien said engineers recommended it be replaced in 1995, but the district couldn’t afford it because of failed levies.
He estimates the project would cost $1.4 million because the roof is flat and requires asbestos abatement.
To help fund the project, Patton added $300,000 to each year of the proposed four-year levy.
That addition raises taxpayers’ estimated contribution 3 cents to $2.27 per $1,000 assessed valuation in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, followed by a one cent increase the following two years.
That still would leave a $200,000 shortfall on the roof’s price, but Patton said that would come out of the district’s $500,000 yearly budget for facilities.
In April, the Community Budget Review Committee prioritized issues from increased time for special education paraeducators to adding 20 full-time teachers from kindergarten through third grade to reduce class size.
CBRC wanted to maintain its core levy plan from the past and requested the district’s contingency increase from $150,000 to $500,000 a year.
In addition, CBRC wants new computers throughout the district, replacement of the emergency radio system, an upgrade to the Follet Library System and added video surveillance cameras and math and science coaches.
Patton’s outline includes all those elements, but the “safety net contingency” is set for $200,000 for the final three years of the levy rather than $500,000.
Some board members expressed concerned about the increased taxpayer contribution, citing several failed levies — the latest occurred in 2000 — but Patton said it’s necessary because unforeseen issues when the last proposal was drafted in 2004 have made the levy unaffordable.
Factors include increased fuel prices and employer-paid state pensions, inflation rising higher than 3 percent, property values in Kitsap County exceeding the state average and the “credit crisis.”
The new rate would be higher than any local district for a maintenance and operations levy — Bremerton is at $2.22 this year.
“I think these numbers, when they go out to the public, will be startling,” board member Kathryn Simpson said. “We have to educate early, or we risk failure.”
Patton said the levy is “probably about 15 or 16 percent” of the district’s $97 million budget.
But the overall total is the lowest in the area because SKSD doesn’t have a bond (every other local district does), or a capital levy.
Besides SKSD, Peninsula had the lowest total at $2.11 per $1,000 of assessed property taxes, while both Bremerton ($3.19) and Central Kitsap ($3.12) exceeded $3.
Board member Naomi Polen said they already have made cuts from the previous levy to accommodate cuts in federal subsidies the district receives. Patton also projects $1 million in equalization funds from the state — down $500,000 from 2007-08.
“A lot of these things have to be done,” Polen said. “The roof at Orchard Heights has to be replaced. The facilities issue is big — you can’t just say we’re going to shut down Orchard Heights because we lack funding.”
Superintendent Dave LaRose agreed.
“This is not dreams,” he said. “This is not fluff. These are necessities.”
Board president Patty Henderson anticipates this will be the final levy plan and set the Oct. 1 meeting as the resolution date.
• Patton budgeted for a 1.4 percent decrease in enrollment this year, but the early returns might exceed that. The district’s head count was 10,187 on Sept. 8, which translates to 9,724 full-time students.
Kindergartners are viewed as one-half a student by the state because most don’t attend school all day.
Orchard Heights, which has 70 less students since May, reported the biggest loss followed by Cedar Heights (45), Mullenix Ridge (25), Manchester (20) and South Colby (3).
All are elementary schools except Cedar Heights, which is a junior high. Patton said the district is 61 full-time students below forecast. She said if that number doesn’t improve, the district likely will receive less funding from the state.
