Marion County Votes on $619.7 Million School Bond

In the May 15 election, Marion County voted on the $619.7 million construction bond for the Salem-Keizer School District. The construction, that the bond would fund, will increase capacity in most of the schools in the district and will update several schools to the new seismic safety standards.
Currently, five out of six schools in the Salem-Keizer district are at or over capacity. The capacity of South is 1797 students but the current enrollment is 1904 students, meaning South is already 107 students over capacity. The bond plans to bring South’s capacity to 2200 students.
Some of the construction that is planned for South if the bond passes is twelve new general classrooms, two new science labs, a flexible learning space, two new CTE program areas, and new spaces to support special education. As well as a new theater, new music rooms, and expanded administration and support areas. There are also plans for removal of the old pool, expanded parking, seismic safety improvements, and intercom and card access system upgrades.
When asked how construction might affect education and daily life at South, Lillian Govus, Director of Community Relations and Communications for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, said “…we can take some of the students and put them at North so that we have a little space to work with here in a safe way during the construction… sometimes it means bringing portables onto the campus that are used as classroom spaces with the understanding… that the second the construction is done, those are gone.”
The bond will increase the tax levy by about $1.24 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Which means for a house with an assessed value of 200,000 dollars the tax increase will be about $248 per year or $21 a month. Govus commented on how the bond might affect the taxpayers claiming “the investment isn’t enormous but the return is”.
Some concerns have been voiced in the community about how the bond passing would mean the loss of the old Leslie Middle School and the Rose Auditorium. Michael Wolfe, Chief Operations Officer for the Salem-Keizer School District, addressed these concerns saying “… the structures that I’m talking about don’t make sense to invest, in fact we have our structural engineer that says ‘I don’t even know how I would design a fix for the old Leslie Middle School or Rose Auditorium.’ So, they’re just seismically unsafe and there is no investment that will make them safe.”
To vote in the county election you must have been 18 years old or older, live in Marion County, and you must have been registered to vote by April 24. Update: The Marion County voters approved the $619.7 million construction bond in the May 15 election.
Update: The Marion County voters approved the $619.7 million construction bond in the May 15 election.