Rogue River school bond is a 'coin flip'

Oct. 30—The Rogue River School District is asking voters to approve a $4 million bond measure with a match that would pay for a range of projects needed to improve its school infrastructure.

The bond would be a continuation of a current measure that is set to expire.

Rogue River School District Superintendent Patrick Lee said he does not know whether voters will accept the proposed bond measure, known as 15-208 which would have homeowners with an assessed property value of $250,000 seeing a $20 annual tax increase.

"If you ask me my thoughts right now, I'd call it a coin flip," said Lee, who noted as superintendent he is not legally able to advocate for the bond measure.

Rogue River School Board member Misty Jacob, who has been actively promoting the bond, agreed with the superintendent's outlook.

"I think things have changed a bit — there's more worry in the nation as a whole about inflation and a possible recession," Jacob said. "I still think people will vote yes because it's worth it. Even if (people) don't have kids in school, they understand the importance of education and having good facilities for the students."

Wimer resident Julie Niles-Fry, a former Rogue River School Board member, disagrees with the need for a bond.

"It's always nice to want more, but do we really need more?," Niles-Fry said.

Jacob and the superintendent expressed uncertainty over the bond's possible passage for the same reason — the economy — with Lee noting conditions have changed since district officials crafted the measure around projects they felt the community would prefer. In 2021, Rogue River School District hired an architectural firm to make a report on the status of district facilities and develop a long-range plan, which included constituent input.

"They (the firm) told us specifically some of the things our facilities needed to prioritize to keep them in good working order," Lee said. "The annex and covered play areas, those are more reflective of what our voters suggested they were interested in from the survey."

But Niles-Fry, who has met with Lee and the district's business manager to discuss the bond, believes what constituents want does not necessarily reflect school needs.

"Yes, we really need flushing toilets; we really need to fix the heat," she said. "But because the district did a survey and kids and parents have said, 'Aw, the junior high needs their own place' — that's not a good enough reason because they could simply reconfigure the schools that they have by hiring an architect and redesigning them."

If the bond passes, district officials would be able to tap into the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Grant, something they say is a rare opportunity given the program is competitive within the state.

"It's $4 million of free money that could help us do a lot more than we could with the $4 million we could raise locally," Lee said. "It opens up the door for a lot more projects to get done."

But Niles-Fry also takes issue with it, accusing district officials of pitching the bond to voters as a "BOGO" (By One, Get One).

"That additional $4 million comes with strings," she said. "A certain portion of that grant is going to be eaten up not only by management costs, but by the requirement within the grant to use those funds. They're going to have to hire certain types of people to do the work. It's not a BOGO."

There are five projects associated with the bond, which Lee noted are the guaranteed items the measure will tackle if it is passed.

"For ethical and practical reasons, it's very important that we spell out what the money is going to, and then we make sure when we get that money, that's exactly what we put it toward and not something else," Lee said.

The projects are plumbing and electrical upgrades throughout the district, covered play areas at the elementary school, a junior high annex to the current junior/senior high school, security and high school locker room upgrades.

Lee said a covered play area would protect youngsters from the elements, no matter the season.

The junior/senior high school annex (several classrooms, a commons area and locker room) would provide middle schoolers separation from their older peers, with whom they currently share the same building.

"We continue to hear from parents who say they prefer to have the middle school separate," Lee said. "They would still have to use the same gym and the same cafeteria, but that would be at different times."

The superintendent said the annex is district officials' preferred option for solving the problem because it would cost the district substantially more money to build a new middle school.

As for new security features, Lee said he doesn't know specifically what that will include because they plan to install them only after consultation with law enforcement officials.

"None of us in the district are safety and security experts," the superintendent said. "We want them to tell us what would be the smartest and wisest thing to do. There's a school of wisdom out there that we should reach into."

Niles-Fry said she is not sure why Lee and other district officials could not have consulted experts before adding security as a priority project with the bond.

"Well, wait a minute, you went out and did all this work on what a building would cost, but then on security measures, you're going to wait," Niles-Fry said. "You can't ask me to pay for something you don't know about."

The high school locker room is outdated, Lee said, with showers with no partitions for privacy. The room does not include any space for changing clothes. Officials would like to add this amenity and make the locker room more comfortable for all with money from the new bond.

Like Lee, Rogue River Junior/Senior High School Principal Dan Smith noted he cannot advocate for the bond, but he did talk about life day-to-day for his students.

"It's been crowded in the hallways, and our middle schoolers are just trying to do their best to be a true middle school, separate from the high school," Smith said. "It's hard to do that when you're in the same building."

To get the word out, the district produced a website and pamphlet about the bond measure that details the projects. Officials also held two town halls, which were sparsely attended; only five people showed up.

"There were people who came with good questions — some that were based on misinformation," Lee said, "and we were able to clear a lot of those misunderstandings up and give accurate information. That's the whole goal of what these are designed to do, was make sure people are making well-informed decisions."

On that note, Lee encourages voters in the days left before Nov. 8 to consult good sources of information before making a decision on whether to vote for the bond measure. He encouraged people to contact him at the district office if they have questions.

The district office can be reached at 541-582-3235, or see rogueriverschoolbond.org for more information about the bond measure.

Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.