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Comments
Joel2828
What a waste of taxpayer money. Please stop putting lipstick on this pig. We need a new high school.
Next thing ya know they're going to want to spend millions to turn the old Baker Field into an artificial turf soccer venue of some sort...complete with a fence, a locked gate and no trespassing signs to keep the people who payed for it (the tax payers) out.
sbagwell
At some point, the district will have to go to voters for money for a new high school -- probably around a quarter of a billion dollars of it. And I already know the chorus of reaction will be, "What a waste of taxpayer money."
If you're cautious and frugal, there will be naysayers. If you are bold and ambitious, there will be naysayers.
The way I see it, by spending a few dollars today, we are putting off the day when we are going to have to spend them by the bucket full.
Building a new high school is a very expensive proposition.
Steve
macbeardad
I was on the committee that considered both proposals and the current path is the correct path for the community and the taxpayers. Current enrollment estimates do not show a student population growth that requires a second school and the property owned for a "new" high school does not have room to facilitate a school population that is larger than the school we have. The work is being done is top rate and the new facilities are and will be excellent. Voters really decided this issue when they approved the first bond in 2007 for phase one. Because the other property does not have room for a higher capacity school, if the enrollment increases in the next decade beyond current expectations then voters can decide on whether to finish phase 3 at the current high school to accommodate the growth or to build another school and have two separate high schools or just one in which we house grades 9 and 10 at one and 11 and 12 at the other. Contingencies and flexibility were preserved in the current course and Steve is right, the expense of a new school was incredible and unlikely to receive voter approval. The bond and construction was for work not just at the high school but for delayed maintenance and safety improvements at almost every school in the community. It is far from a waste of taxpayer money because it will preserve and extend the life of community assets that taxpayers have already built. By the way, with the grant money and this measured approach the district did not have to change bond payment obligations because they kept a promise not to ask for new funds until they retired a prior bond.
Jim
Joel while I totally agree with you it’s not going to change for a long time.In 2007 the first mistake was made by spending another dime on the dinosaur that is our High School. The school is land locked and no matter what they do they will never be able to fix the parking,small auditorium, and lots of other things including having several athletic venues off campus. Right now we need a second Baseball field but where would they put it? So while I agree with you it will fall on deaf ears by the people in charge.
Don Dix
In most instances, 1200 students are required for a 6A (sports and activities on state level) classification. When the HS population reaches 2400, then, and only then will a new HS be proposed (so both can be 6A). That has been the undertone since the property on Hill Road was purchased.
Jeb Bladine
It was 2006 when McMinnville voters first defeated a bond proposal that included a second high school, on Hill Road, then later that year approved a bond plan that expanded facilities at the current high school site.
Jim
Jeb in my humble opinion I think a lot of folks in McMinnville don’t want a second High School. They know how dividing kids into two different schools helps create divides in the community. Everybody in this day and age wants diversity and unity and two High Schools will create a large division in both. You can look at other towns around the state and see the divisions of community’s that aren’t big enough to divide their kids.