School board votes to spend some of Edison excess bond funds

School board votes to spend some of Edison excess bond funds 
During the June 1 school board meeting, the Walla Walla Public Schools Board of Directors voted to spend up to $500,000 of the Edison Elementary excess bond funds to pay for a radon mitigation plan at Blue Ridge Elementary.

 The school board voted to freeze spending on the remaining $1.1 million until another public meeting can be scheduled in the near future to discuss the district's options.

Options include reinvesting the excess dollars in other district capital projects or buying down the bond balance. If the district returned the excess $1.6 million bond money, the average savings to a taxpayer who owns a home valued at $325,000 would be approximately $2.17 per month for a seven-year period.

Superintendent Carter has recommended the district make energy efficiency and air quality improvements with some of the excess dollars. This effort could also land the district additional dollars through state grants.

Carter has also called for telecommunications improvements at four schools (Berney, Green Park, Pioneer and Garrison) and possibly other technology enhancements across the district.

School board members also said they want another report on Edison to determine if it is in fact completed and functioning at an acceptable level to ensure excess Edison dollars would be available at the new school should they be needed to do additional work.

The school board expects to announce the date and time of the public meeting soon.