Tiger Mountain Community High School students don’t mind a little needling
April 17, 2012
Clara Sifuentes (left), 17, and knitting club president Conrad Kelly, 17, use their lunchtime to take on projects for Tiger Mountain Community High School’s first Associated Student Body-endorsed club. By Tom Corrigan
They only meet once a week during lunch.
Nevertheless, the 10 or so members of Tiger Mountain Community High School’s first and so far only Associated Student Body-endorsed club have made an impact all around the area and as far as South Africa.
Issaquah School District bond issue is now in the hands of voters
April 10, 2012
As of April 9, an estimated 43,000 voters had returned ballots that will help decide six issues on the ballot of the April 17 special election, said Kim Van Ekstrom, chief communications officer for the King County elections department.
The questions include a $219 million capital improvement bond issue put forth by the Issaquah School District. The 43,000 ballots represent all ballots returned in elections throughout the county, not just from the Issaquah School District. The county has not counted ballots for individual election questions, Van Ekstrom said.
Supporters have yet to face opposition to $219 million school bond
April 3, 2012
By now, most of the campaign work is done, said Lesley Austin, one of the two co-chairwomen of Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, the community organization promoting the Issaquah School District’s capital improvement levy on the April 17 ballot.
The VIS group organized so-called honk and waves at 13 locations throughout the district the morning and afternoon of April 2, Austin said. VIS slated a second such event for April 16, the day before ballots in the election are due back to King County.
Eagles, Patriots, Spartans and Tigers Mix It Up
April 3, 2012
Hall Monitor Maddi Hutson Skyline High School
Students and staff members from Liberty, Issaquah, Tiger Mountain Community and Skyline high schools met March 27 at Issaquah High for a social event to highlight students from the four high schools’ learning resource classes, and let them meet new people and have a good time together.
The evening was organized by Associated Student Body seniors Jay Bowlby, Mason Gregory and Susie Tinker, and junior Olivia Fuller, all from Skyline.
Skyline’s leadership class created special VIP invitations to encourage LRC attendance. As students walked through the doors to Issaquah’s commons, they were greeted by friendly ASB members and given their first raffle ticket of the night. Colorful streamers and hanging stars gave the room a festive vibe.
Refreshments included free pizza, popcorn and water. For students who really wanted to quench their thirst — if they successfully landed a ring over a 2-liter bottle of soda in a ring toss — they were able to keep the soda.
Press Editorial
March 27, 2012
Controversial bond deserves a yes vote
W e wish the Issaquah School District had been more conservative in its request to fund the long list of items on the April 17 construction bond, but we get why it did so.
With another school bond ending its 20 years of tax collections, this is a good time to get a lot of catch-up work done on our school facilities, while still giving taxpayers a couple hundred dollars’ reduction in property taxes next year (an estimated $215 drop on a $500,000 assessed valuation home.)
Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, the group pushing a yes vote, say this is the biggest campaign it has ever mounted. It’s no wonder. With so many questions and a $219 million price tag, the proposed bond has raised a lot of eyebrows.
There are a lot of questions voters are asking, as we did. Do the middle schools really need artificial-turf fields? Does it really make sense to tear down Clark Elementary School? Does Tiger Mountain Community High School, population 80, really need to be relocated at a cost of $4 million? Isn’t $75,000 for clocks at Beaver Lake Middle School rather excessive? And so on.
Smaller maintenance projects form big part of school bond
March 20, 2012
As voters get closer to deciding whether to OK a $219 million bond issue to benefit the Issaquah School District, big projects such as the rebuilding of the so-called corridor schools are getting plenty of attention.
The corridor schools are Issaquah Middle, Clark Elementary and Tiger Mountain High schools, all which will end up largely rebuilt and in new locations if the bond sale is approved.
Still, a significant portion of the proceeds from the bond sale would go toward more seemingly mundane items, such as rebuilding playfields and replacing fire alarm panels. The proposed project list includes dozens of maintenance and upkeep items at schools around the district.
“We have an obligation to protect roughly $1.2 billion in assets,” Jake Kuper, district chief of finances and operations, said referring to the estimated value of the district’s 28 total buildings, including 24 schools.
Bond includes dollars for relocating, rebuilding schools
March 13, 2012
The above map shows the current and future locations of Issaquah Middle, Clark Elementary and Tiger Mountain Community High schools. By Dona Mokin
Of the total $219 million bond package proposed by the Issaquah School District, four projects account for roughly half of those dollars.
If district voters approve the issue in a special election April 17, plans call for rebuilding the district’s three oldest schools, Clark and Sunny Hills elementary schools, along with Issaquah Middle School. Total cost: $109.1 million.
Intertwined with the plans to rebuild Clark and IMS is the plan to rebuild Tiger Mountain Community High School on part of what is now the IMS campus. Cost of that project is estimated at $3.9 million.
The overall plan
The buildings involved are old and largely past their useful life spans.
A bond feasibility and development committee developed the original capital improvement program during planning sessions held roughly a year ago. One long debate was whether to propose rebuilding the oldest schools or to push for dollars to repair and maintain those buildings.
Issaquah School District outlines school plans to public
March 13, 2012
About a dozen people showed up in the gym of Issaquah Middle School the evening of March 8 for a presentation regarding the possible future of at least three Issaquah School District facilities.
The topic was the possible relocation and reconstruction of IMS, Tiger Mountain Community High School and Clark Elementary School.
For the most part, those in attendance were in favor of the plans, though they had questions.
Janet Wright and Robert Clement live just behind IMS. Both said windows in their condominiums are about 20 feet from the property line separating their homes from the school property.
$219 million school bond could pick up tab for carpet, construction
March 6, 2012
Voting by mail in the weeks leading up to April 17, roughly 58,000 registered voters in the Issaquah School District will have the chance to decide whether the schools can sell $219 million in bonds to pay for major renovation and maintenance projects throughout the district.
Issaquah, Sammamish councils support school district bond
February 28, 2012
Issaquah and Sammamish leaders agreed last week to support the $219 million bond the Issaquah School District plans to put before voters April 17.
The measure is meant to generate dollars to rebuild Clark and Sunny Hills elementary schools and Issaquah Middle School, modernize Liberty High School and relocate Tiger Mountain Community High School.
Issaquah City Council members held a public hearing about the bond Feb. 21 and then agreed to back the measure in a 5-0 decision. (Councilman Mark Mullet and Councilwoman Eileen Barber did not attend the meeting.)
Sammamish City Council members endorsed the measure Feb. 7.
“When companies are looking at relocating, they often look at the availability of excellent education,” Sammamish Mayor Tom Odell said. “We have that here, and it’s incumbent on us to keep it that way if we want to protect what we have here.”
Issaquah School District officials also plan to use bond funds to improve districtwide heating and ventilation, space and security; and improve athletic fields and stadiums. (Clark Elementary School, Issaquah Middle School and Tiger Mountain Community High School sit inside Issaquah city limits.)
