Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

 11/27/01

NEWS RELEASE
School Election on Tuesday, February 5, 2002

At the Monday, November 26, Auburn School Board meeting, the directors unanimously approved a resolution to submit a two–year $16,900,000 and $17,500 000 replacement levy proposition to local voters on Tuesday, February 5.  This educational program and operation levy will replace the expiring 2001 and 2002 levies and will be collected in the 2003 and 2004 tax years. This replacement levy will continue to fund the current educational programs including basic instructional program; special education program; vocational instruction program; other instructional programs such as gifted education, honors, and advanced placement; all athletics and extracurricular activities; transportation; and maintenance and custodial services.

Additionally, the directors approved a resolution which will submit a $54,000,000 school improvement bond on the Tuesday, February 5 ballot.  The bond proposition will fund the construction of a fourth high school (third comprehensive high school) to be opened in 2004.  The high school will be built in the Lea Hill area on 40 acres already owned by the district.  The school’s core facility will house 1,500 students as recommended by the Citizens Ad Hoc Committee and will eliminate current overcrowding as well as accommodate future enrollment growth.

Auburn High School and Auburn Riverside High School are among the largest four-year high schools in King County.  On October 1, Auburn High School had an enrollment of 2,345 students and Auburn Riverside High School had an enrollment of 1,851 students. Combined, Auburn High School and Auburn Riverside High School currently have 24 portable classrooms housing students.  Auburn School District’s high school enrollment is projected to increase 469 students by 2004 and 626 students by 2007.

Since the mid-1980s, Auburn School District has been committed to addressing the facility demands of student population growth.  Three different citizen ad hoc committees have made recommendations to Auburn School District that priority be given to accommodating enrollment growth.  This bond proposition continues the implementation of those citizen recommendations by providing the fiscal resources to meet these needs.  It is expected that the bonds will be issued in at least two sales to minimize the tax impact on the voters.  For the 2003 tax year, the cost of this proposition is projected to be 41 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

For more information, contact superintendent, Linda S. Cowan, at (253) 931-4914 or assistant superintendent, Mike Newman at (253) 931-4930.