District needs to offer more information | Letters | May 15

Published 11:48 am Friday, May 15, 2009

The Bainbridge Island School District board and administration should fully explain the more than $32 million to replace Wilkes Elementary. That number doesn’t appear to make sense unless they are planning on building the largest, most expensive grade school in the state of Washington.

Here are grade school comparisons (size, total cost) from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction website for 2008 elementary school projects: Eastgate Elementary, 66,294 square feet, $23,404,147; Frederickson Elementary, 64,580, $17,478,055; Robert Frost Elementary, 59,212, $22,172,567; Edison (Walla Walla), 65,302, $14,415,590.

The district will also receive state matching funds for this project,but it has not said how that will play into the school’s overall funding.

I think Wilkes should be replaced, but the district’s levy appears to be about $10 million excessive for a grade school (K-4) replacement. The existing Wilkes is less than 42,000 square feet, much smaller than the projects listed. Maybe the district is combining two schools?

The district has not been forthcoming on the cost breakdown for Wilkes; answers have been a polite “we are working on that.”

The public deserves transparency and reasonable answers. It’s a great school district, but they are building public distrust.

Robert Dashiell

Tolo Road