Leaders say better buildings enhance student learning

Math teachers without classrooms, science labs that are too small and packed career and technology work spaces cramp student learning at Anacortes High School, administrators say.

“The overarching thing is we want our kids to be competitive in the work environment and go to the best colleges,” said Pam Estvold, AHS principal.

And she said the school’s facilities are not supporting those goals.

Cindy Simonsen, district director of learning and instruction, said overcrowding reduces productivity and staff are spending emotional energy in areas other than learning.

“Those classrooms are overcrowded. That’s usually a phrase you hear in city schools that are poor,” Simonsen said. “We’re a business about people. When you’re spending your emotional capital on other things you’re not doing your job as effectively.”

And leaders end up making some hard choices.

“You’re making education decisions because of the space,” she said.

But leaders say the district’s bond request will help address these concerns and improve student learning.

Voters have been asked to approve a 20-year $62.9 million school bond in a special election Feb. 19. The bond will renovate Anacortes High School and Mount Erie Elementary School and build a new maintenance facility.

The proposal is nearly identical to the $59.8 million bond that failed in April 2007. It received a 57.9 percent yes vote, just below the 60 percent supermajority required for a bond to pass.

The higher price tag — up about 5 percent from the April bond — is driven by inflation costs.

The district anticipates the bond, if passed, will cost property owners 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation in 2009. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay about $138 more in property taxes.

For the bond to pass, the district must receive a supermajority with a 60 percent yes vote. In addition, turnout must equal at least 40 percent of the number of voters who participated in the last general election.

Anacortes High School
Half the math teachers at the high school don’t have a classroom — and that means students have a hard time finding them between periods to ask a quick question.

“They literally teach in three different rooms off a cart,” Estvold said. “It’s a great concern about what is going on in the math area.”

To compensate, math teachers gather in the library after the last bell to answer questions.

“It’s just another hurdle for everyone,” Simonsen said.

Estvold said it would improve math instruction if teachers had their own room. They could greet students at the door, have bell-to-bell learning and hang examples around the room.

That’s exactly what the bond would do.

Anacortes High School is in line for about $54.4 million in work.

Proposed upgrades include a renovation and reconfiguration of the existing school, a new career and technology education wing and improvements to athletic fields, which include covered bleachers for the home side and uncovered bleachers on the visitors’ side and improvements to War Memorial Field and Rice Field.

The project includes remodeling a majority of the high school built in 1976; adding new student areas; and moving and modernizing the library, computer lab and drama rooms.

The current career and technical education wing will be demolished and replaced by a roughly 62,000-square-foot two-story building including science labs.

And adequate lab space is definitely something the school needs, administrators say.

Estvold said as many as five students gather around a 3-foot length of table with sinks and a computer to do lab work. The space is not designed for the technology used for hands-on, investigative learning.

The building also doesn’t have the room it needs for the popular career and technical education courses, said Marge Thomas, district director of career and technical education/alternative programs.

“Most of the shops and labs have very limited space,” she said.

Safety is a challenge with so many students and equipment crammed into the rooms. The wiring and heating systems are also not up to par.

“You’re either so cold you can’t produce things or you’re too hot,” Thomas said.

If the bond passes, classrooms would be grouped together to provide better learning opportunities. Students could design something in an engineering class and then go down the hall to the metals shop and actually make it, she said.

Not having enough space for classes forces leaders to make hard decisions on what can be offered.

“The facility is limiting that,” said Dale Bowen, district director of personnel and operations.

Simonsen compared the district’s aging facilities to a rundown car.

“Right now we have an old car that is nickel-and-diming learning,” she said.

Athletic fields
Being involved in activities makes students more well-rounded, Estvold said.

“It provides that connection for so many kids. When kids are connected they do better academically,” she said.

Work to the athletic fields include 1,500-seat covered bleachers at War Memorial Field, improvements to the parking lots, synthetic turf, guest bleachers and a new scoreboard and lighting. Improvements to Rice Field include storage, bleachers, a concessions building and rest rooms and field improvements including fencing and lighting.

The district uses War Memorial Field about 40 times a year for football and soccer games. The physical education classes have to be taught elsewhere.

“It does impact us curriculum-wise,” Estvold said.

The district spends about $5,000 on paint and $4,000 on sand every year. That money, which comes from the general fund, could be used for other areas, Bowen said

“We really spent a tremendous amount of time getting that field ready for football and soccer,” he said.

Twenty-five years ago synthetic turf was a luxury, Bowen said.

“It’s not a luxury now.”

Having synthetic turf would allow the district to host tournaments that would bring people — and money — to the city. It would also allow the field to be used more for a variety of events, from community soccer tournaments to church events.

Mount Erie Elementary School
Mount Erie’s multi-purpose room has too many purposes, said Principal Bob Knorr. It’s used for morning and after-school activities, lunch, gym classes, performances on the stage and storage.

With a new gym, Knorr said the room could better meet the needs of the students.

Mount Erie Elementary School is in line for about $7.1 million for construction of a new gymnasium and reconfiguration of the parking and student drop-off and pick-up area. It also includes minor modernization to parts of the existing building.

The school’s undersized computer lab would be remodeled if the bond passes and the wiring would be updated.

“It works but is it as effective as it could be? No,” Knorr said.

The nurse’s area would also be expanded to better serve students.

“To take care of sick kids we need the space,” he said.

Knorr said the school has basic space issues. Compared to other elementary schools in the district, Mount Erie has as much as 125 less square feet per student. But it’s not being noticed because staff have worked around the challenges.
“The (space) need is being covered by the hard work of teachers,” he said.

Maintenance facility
District leaders say the World War II-era maintenance facility has lived its life and a new building would help the district better maintain the schools.

“Children learn in a building that needs to be maintained,” Simonsen said.

The final part of the proposal is a roughly $2.95 million maintenance and storage facility to replace the building now in use. Construction will include covered vehicle storage, a loading dock and a delivery access road.

The maintenance department saves the district money by repairing a desk instead of purchasing a new one. But it could save the district even more if the equipment was covered, there was space to do more repair work and there was more storage space to allow the district to buy in bulk, leaders say.

Since the money comes from the district’s general fund, that means more would be available for learning materials like books.

“(That) means more dollars going back into the class,” said Superintendent Chris Borgen.

What it costs
Voters will be asked to approve a 20-year $62.9 million school bond in a special election Feb. 19 to finance a list of construction projects.
The district anticipates the bond, if passed, will cost property owners 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation in 2009. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay about $138 more in property taxes.

What it buys
• Renovation and reconfiguration of existing parts of Anacortes High School, a new career and technology wing and improvements to athletic fields, which include covered bleachers as well as improvements to War Memorial Field and Rice Field, about $54.4 million.
• A new gym at Mount Erie Elementary School and reconfiguration of a parking lot, bus lane and student drop-off, about $7.1 million.
• A maintenance and storage facility, about $2.95 million.

To learn more
• Information meetings are scheduled at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 16 and 23 in the Anacortes High School library.
• Visit the Bond Committee for Anacortes Schools’ Web site at http://www.anacortesbond.com. The committee is not connected to the School District.
• Meetings and tours are available. Call Superintendent Chris Borgen at 293-1210.

Other Anacortes school bond articles:
Anacortes school bond would fund $23.9 million career and technology wing at high school
School bond would fund classrooms, stadium, and renovate high school library, Brodniak Hall
Synthetic turf would allow more field use at same cost, school leaders say
Bond would unsnarl traffic in Mount Erie Elementary School dropoff zone, build new gym
School bond would replace ‘woefully inadequate’ maintenance building
District asking voters to ‘protect our investment’
Q & A: School bond costs, benefits examined
Largest bond request in county history
School survey shows respondents favor same proposal
Anacortes School District’s $62.9 million bond goes to voters