A bill from Rep. Stephanie McClintock to address aging school facilities receives a public hearing
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A bill from Rep. Stephanie McClintock to address aging school facilities receives a public hearing
Rep. Stephanie McClintock has introduced a bill that would provide financial assistance to school districts with old facilities and a history of capital bond failure. The Capital Budget Committee held a public hearing on the legislation on Thursday.
House Bill 2017 would do several things, including create a capital grant program for the planning, modernization, and new construction projects in school districts with enrollments of 1,001 or more. The grants would be prioritized based on school conditions, district financial capacity, and student health and safety.
“During my time serving on the Battle Ground school board, it was always difficult to see that our school facilities had needs, but I was unable to do anything to help them,” said McClintock, R-Vancouver. “We have buildings that are 50 years old or older in our district that don’t have the modern learning tools students need. At the same time, many facilities in our neighboring school districts are much more modernized. We need to even the playing field for our kids.”
The bill would also specify additional eligibility thresholds based on bond failure, facility age, and other criteria, and it would create grant prioritization criteria, grant match requirements, and administrative processes.
To meet the bond failure threshold, in the 20 years preceding the date of application to the program, the registered voters of the applying school district must have failed to approve at least four consecutive capital bond authorizations and the most recent bond election prior to the date of application must also have failed.
Additionally, the applying school district’s most recent failure to approve a capital bond prior to application must have received the approval of a majority of the voters voting on the proposition.
If the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that a school district applying for a grant has met the bond failure criteria, the district remains eligible as long as it meets the other grant eligibility requirements.
The program would focus on facilities that are at least 50 years old and have not been modernized in the past 30 years, and the projects would have to comprehensively modernize or replace these facilities.
“This bill is an attempt to right some wrongs when it comes equity in our school buildings,” said McClintock. “Our district has attempted to pass bonds several times only to repeatedly see them fail. Additionally, there are 10 other districts that would fall into this category, which would benefit greatly if this bill passed.”
The next step for HB 2017 is to be voted on by the Capital Budget Committee to determine if it will continue to move forward in the process.
The 2024 legislative session began Jan. 8 and is scheduled for 60 days.
