Superintendent Carter addresses Edison excess bond funds

Hi, this is Walla Walla Public Schools Superintendent Rich Carter. Thank you for taking a moment as I explain why I recommended the district reinvest the $1.6 million in excess bond funds from the Edison Elementary construction project.

I guess the first question I need to address is how the district found itself in a position to have such a large amount of excess funds from the Edison project.

We used a team of industry experts to help us forecast the cost of this project. When we were analyzing costs and crunching numbers for the new Edison in the Spring of 2006, America was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and China 's economic boom was driving up the costs of materials.

By the time we went out for construction bids in the winter of 2008, the world's economies had drastically changed and the global recession had begin to choke out any growth. As a result, contractor bids and construction materials dropped drastically and we were the fortunate recipient of this situation.

In addition, interest rates remained at all time lows. We also had tremendous staff and community input in the design of the school so there were few change orders as the project was being built. Our construction management team was committed to working as a unit to provide outstanding oversight of the project, further leading to cost savings.

When you put all these factors together, the end result was a first-class project which came in under budget. This is not the norm. Usually in public education, we are scrambling to find ways to fully fund the project as we near completion because projects are typically at or over budget. Those of you who have ever remodeled a bathroom or kitchen in your home can relate to this scenario. We should be celebrating the fact that we delivered on the project the voters asked for and there are $1.6 million remaining to tackle some of the district's other vital needs.

Now let's make sure we understand there is no funny business in any of this as the process has been very transparent and legal. When citizens cast their votes, it clearly stated on the ballot -- in the same size print -- that excess dollars could be used for other capital needs within the district. This information was not buried in any fine print.

So what are the district's options for using this excess money you might ask? Basically it comes down to either reinvesting the excess dollars in other district capital projects or buying down the bond balance by returning the excess funds. If the district returned the excess 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. However, the median priced home in Walla Walla is $175,000, so these folks would pay about $15 a year over the seven-year time frame. This is less than the cost of a gallon of gas a month.

This is a small amount of money for individual taxpayers, but when you total these funds it provides great opportunities for our students. The school board has already taken the correct action by committing $500,000 for a long-term radon mitigation plan at Blue Ridge so our staff, students and parents can rest assured these potentially harmful gases never reach dangerous levels. Now the school board will take some time to determine what it should do with the remaining $1.1 million by getting more public input.

We know we have a boiler at Pioneer Middle School that has out lived its life expectancy. This school doesn't have proper HVAC systems as much of the school is using original equipment despite repairs following the 1990 fire. The state also has an attractive energy grant program to help bring buildings like Pioneer up to today's efficiency standards. A successful grant application could see half of this project funded by dollars that come from outside of Walla Walla and do not increase local taxes. We have successfully leveraged additional dollars in the past and we think it makes sense to continue using this strategy.

Our telephone systems at Green Park , Berney, Pioneer and Garrison are dated and create safety concerns as we do not have consistent telephone contact with all teaching and learning spaces. These telephone systems do not allow for voice messaging and other features for improved communication from home to the teachers, and in many cases are being repaired through the practice of scrounging for used parts. We can do better than this for our staff, students and families.

We continue to fall short in technology for our staff and students as the limited dollars do not stretch far enough to meet today's demands. Some of these excess Edison bond funds could be used to enhance technology offerings for our students. Keep in mind that we have more than $100 million in documented capital improvement needs in our district. Each year this amount continues to grow. We can take a step in the right direction in addressing these needs by reinvesting these funds.

When Walla Walla voters approved the $19.5 million bond to construct a new Edison Elementary school they were expecting a quality project, built on time and within budget. We delivered on this promise and are in the fortunate position to have left-over money to address other critical needs. Once given the go ahead to reinvest these dollars, we will deliver on our promise of putting this remaining $1.1 million to good use in our school system as well.

We have a proven successful track record in this area. Take for example the $3.4 million in state matching funds the Edison project generated. We reinvested these dollars, like we did for the Sharpstein and Green Park projects in the past, and were able to leverage nearly $4 million of additional money from the state.

This forward-thinking plan provided the community with a nearly $10 million project for the Support Services facility and Transportation Cooperative without any additional increases to our local bond rates. This action eliminated one of the district's most dilapidated facilities and will improve program effectiveness and efficiencies for years to come.

We have a lot of work yet to do and the community will be critical in helping our district continue to move forward. In a world of uncertainty, your local school district is still a slice of American pie we can all be proud of and support.

Some people in our community have voiced opposition to reinvesting these precious dollars. It's my opinion they are not seeing the big picture of today's needs in public education. I stand behind my recommendation to reinvest these funds. In the hands of the individual taxpayer the amount is minimal, but collectively these dollars add up to tremendous opportunities for improvements to better learning opportunities for our students.

I've appreciated your support the past 10 years and will always consider it to have been a privilege to serve as your superintendent. Let's do the right thing and provide our staff, students and parents with the facilities and equipment necessary to be successful.