PORT ANGELES — Walking into the chemistry lab at Port Angeles High School is like visiting a bygone age.
There are asbestos countertops, fume hoods and floor tiles. Tall wooden storage cabinets with glass doors. Green vertical sliding chalkboards.
For the past 70 years, whether studying the periodic table or investigating covalent bonds, Port Angeles students have learned about science in a classroom untouched by time or modern conveniences like air conditioning.
A $140 million Port Angeles School District bond measure that targets the replacement of the aging high school built in 1953 and Franklin Elementary School, built in 1954, is one of two propositions the district is putting before voters on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The other is a $35 million educational programs and operations levy that would bridge the gap between what the state funds and the actual cost of running the district. It would pay for programs like athletics and music and help pay salaries for counselors, nurses and paraeducators.
The bond measure is part of the district’s 30-year capital facilities plan initiated in 2020. The plan kicked off with a voter-approved five-year, $52.6 million capital levy to remodel and expand Stevens Middle School — work that will begin next summer when all of the funds have been collected.
Both ballot measures replace levies that are expiring. The 21-year bond that replaces the Stevens levy has a rate of $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value (also known as the mill rate). The four-year EP&O levy that replaces the current EP&O levy has a rate of $1.40 per $1,000.
The combined EP&O and capital levy tax rate approved by voters in 2020 was $4.12 per $1,000, but it has dropped as property values in the district have climbed. The combined tax rate for the current ballot measures is $2.70 per $1,000.
“In 2020, we promised the public we would keep their tax rate stable, and if we can’t do that, then we’re not doing it,” Port Angeles School Board President Sarah Methner said. “What they reached into their pocket for in 2021, 2022, 2023 — we don’t want it to be any different.”
That is not what is going to happen, said Kaj Ahlburg, because the district’s calculations don’t consider the impact of inflation or adequately account for property assessments that have risen 40 percent since 2020.
“The increase in the EP&O levy is way above the amount of inflation since the previous levy,” Ahlburg said. “They want to raise the (current) mill rate from 96 cents to $1.40, which is the same mill rate as it was four years ago, but in terms of dollars, it’s going to be 53 percent higher.”
Ahlburg said he had no problem with EP&O levies funding programs, but not at the rate the district is asking.
“I think we need to be careful in terms of raising taxes that much when it is not absolutely necessary,” he said.
Methner said she is confident the EP&O levy would be approved because residents understand how necessary it is for the continuance of programs that are important to students.
“The people of Port Angeles have always supported us, which I’ve been super grateful for,” she said.
During a tour of the high school last Thursday, district maintenance and technology director Nolan Duce pointed out old but shiny floors, freshly painted walls without any marks and grounds free of litter.
It’s what wasn’t immediately noticeable that was of concern.
That included corroding galvanized pipes and a main electrical panel from the Eisenhower administration. Inadequate electrical infrastructure for classroom technology — computers, video, audio — that didn’t exist when the school was built. A noisy, expensive and inefficient electrical heating system that couldn’t blow cool air.
“We make the best of what we have,” Superintendent Marty Brewer said. “But it doesn’t meet 21st century learning standards.”
Franklin Elementary is in even worse shape than the high school, Duce said.
In the district’s most recent building condition report from 2022-2023, Franklin was among the lowest-scoring facilities with a score of 58.11 out of 100. (The high school’s 400 building received the lowest: 52.89 out of 100).
It has no cafeteria, equipment — like the PA system — is obsolete and the roof needs to be replaced.
Old buildings like the high school and Franklin are labor-intensive and expensive to keep in good working order, Duce said.
Talk of district facilities in disrepair due to neglect and lack of preventive maintenance is simply not true, Duce said.
“The people who work for us really care,” said Duce, who has been with the district for 22 years. “When they see a leak, they fix it.
“The narrative that this district doesn’t take care of its buildings is misinformation.”
If voters approve the bond measure, Franklin would be entirely replaced.
Nine buildings on the high school campus would be demolished to make way for a single multistory building constructed on the northwest portion of the campus. Students would transition between classes entirely indoors, instead of walking between buildings as they do now, and a safety vestibule would control access to the facility.
It is an unfortunately reality that, in an era of mass shootings, schools have to be designed to minimize risk and deter violence, Brewer said.
“This is about safety and security,” Brewer said. “This is a 40-acre facility with 13 buildings and 147 outside doors and 900 students who are 100 percent exposed and at risk every day.”
Upgrade of the Port Angeles Performing Arts Center also is included in the bond, but the gym and other campus buildings would remain in place until a decision can be made about their futures.
Approval of the bond would enable the district to tap into almost $40 million in state school construction assistance program funds. The modernization of Stevens qualified for about $15 million in SCAP funding.
Keeping as much of that money in the area has been a priority for the school board, Methner said. Companies competing for district contracts are scored on their ability to use local contractors and suppliers.
“When you look at the possibility of $250 million in construction in a community and 30 to 40 percent of that stays local, that means a lot,” Methner said.
While not disputing the high school and Franklin are in need of replacement, critics like Ahlburg say the district should be looking at more modest solutions, particularly when enrollment is on the decline.
While the number of students at Franklin is down 16 percent since 2015, he said, the school would be about 39 percent larger than the present one. The new high school would be 11 percent larger than the one it’s replacing, even though its enrollment has declined 14 percent.
It would have been more fiscally responsible to propose new schools that are about the same square footage as the existing ones and bring that to voters in February’s election, Ahlburg said.
“A lot of folks are struggling to pay their property taxes,” he said. “I think it’s just a little bit of a reach.”
To pass, the district’s bond will require a majority of voter approval — a supermajority of 60 percent or more — to pass, while the EP&O levy will require a simple majority of 50 percent plus one.
Methner is optimistic.
“We’re going to open three new buildings in 2028-29 for no change to your current taxes,” she said. “Why would we not?”
More information
Proposition No. 1, Educational programs and operation levy, can be found at tinyurl.com/ywkdp63s
Proposition No. 2, Bonds to replace and renovate buildings, can be found at tinyurl.com/5ytahf7b.
An overview of the condition of the district’s facilities can be found at tinyurl.com/4wcjafzw. A detailed list can be found at tinyurl.com/4f5xw5ts.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
