Budget bind: Schools grapple with maintenance issues

By Steve Ritchie

The effects of school budget cuts are painfully obvious throughout the state: larger classes, fewer electives, fewer school days, teacher layoffs and higher fees.

The Mount Angel School District is no exception to the trend. For several years, the district has gone through wrenching cuts that impact instruction and learning.

Another area impacted by budget cuts may not be as obvious to students and parents, but it is equally problematic.

Deep cuts to maintenance and custodial staff, supplies and projects in recent budget cycles have taken a major toll on the district’s three main buildings, leading to concerns about the condition of the facilities, Mount Angel Superintendent Troy Stoops said.

“Maintenance is one of the areas that has been cut way back over the last five or six years and it hasn’t taken long for that to really have an impact on the condition of our buildings,” Stoops said.

“The staff has been cut back, as have the funds for major building projects … and the buildings go downhill really fast. The deferred maintenance has gotten to the point where we have to address it pretty soon and have a good priority list for projects,” Stoops added.

For more than a year, the district staff and board have been working to develop a long-range plan for facilities, Stoops said.

The public is invited to attend community meetings at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, April 11 and April 25 to learn about the committee’s recommendations. Those attending will have the opportunity to get into small groups to discuss issues and provide feedback on the plans.

Stoops said that the district will be providing “more specifics and architects’ drawings” at these meetings so that people will be able to get a good understanding of what is being proposed.

In December of 2011, the school board and district officials began working with Hill International, the same consultant that is working with the Silver Falls School District. In the spring of 2012, Stoops assembled a committee to work on a plan for the board’s consideration.

“I think we have (on the 22-member committee) a really good representation of our community working together. The goal is to present a 10-15 year plan for board approval in June,” Stoops said.

Stoops emphasized that the committee’s charge is much broader than addressing the deferred maintenance needs of the district’s buildings, as pressing as those are. He notes that schools today are much different in how they function to educate students than they were in the 1950s and 1960s. For example, today’s students are using computers and other technology to take tests and to learn.

“(The plan) goes beyond fixing leaky roofs and patching holes The purpose is to make this a better place to learn and work. We want to meet the needs for the next 15 years,” Stoops said.

He said the district is not expecting state funding levels to rise significantly anytime soon.

“We know that our (state) funding is not coming back quickly – we’re six to eight years away from any increases in funding. We know that we will have to invest in our facilities (sooner).”

With the rash of school shootings across the country, making schools secure and controlling access is another urgent issue that the committee will be examining. Traffic patterns around the schools – student pick up and drop off zones, bus parking, etc. – is another area carefully being examined.

Stoops said the committee is also reviewing seismic and asbestos reports, roof assessments, energy efficiency, and low-maintenance landscaping options as other areas that may need to be addressed. The committee is examining how each school building might be improved to better meet changing student needs.

Major consideration is being given by the school board to proposing a bond measure that could provide the funding needed to accomplish both the deferred maintenance needs, as well as the educational, security and other improvements that the committee and school board end up supporting at the conclusion of the planning process.

The 20-year $6.8 million bond that was passed in 1995 to fund the construction of St. Mary School will expire in 2016. Stoops believes that a new bond, if approved by voters, might, in effect, just continue property taxes at current levels.

“It is hugely important to keep our school facilities up to date to help complement current teaching methods and how kids are learning today,” Long Range Facilities Planning Committee Chair Tommy Riedman said.

Riedman said the issue of deferred building maintenance “is hurting the (school district) budget, and getting more and more expensive the longer we put it off.”