In May, the Lake Oswego School Board received recommendations from the Long Range Facilities Planning Committee that will impact the school district’s future. Appointed last November, the committee recommended a feasibility study on the district’s options regarding the future of Lake Grove Elementary, Uplands Elementary and Palisades World Language School.
On Saturday, June 8, the school board held a town hall for all community members to answer questions about the proposed feasibility study and the district’s next steps regarding the long range facilities plan and phase three of the capital construction bond.
Questions were submitted in advance by community members. Lake Oswego Review editor and town hall moderator Patrick Malee selected the questions and grouped them by topic beforehand.
“This is a long-term plan; we need to create an opportunity to understand, accommodate and facilitate the continued educational excellence of our community 20 years, 30 years out,” said School Board Chair Brian Bills.
These are five important takeaways from the two-hour discussion as the school board continues to solicit community input regarding the recommendations and feasibility study.
1. No decisions have been made about the futures of Lake Grove Elementary and Palisades World Language School
Board member Kirsten Aird said the board is in a “fact-finding period” and that the purpose of the feasibility study would be to gather more information for the district and the community.
During its initial meetings, the LRFP committee discussed case studies for utilizing the Lake Grove acreage if the district opts not to build a replacement elementary school.
These included using the space for a new adult transition program center, an administrative services building, a new city library/community center or library and high-density commercial developments along Boones Ferry Road.
A challenge for the board, especially when answering questions about the future of the schools, was balancing the impacts that one school could have on another.
The board wished to avoid any notion of competition between schools or an adversarial framing for future planning goals.
“Our job is to look out for 6,800 kids; it's not one school against another school. We’ve got to figure out how to make never enough money make a difference for every single kid in this district,” said Aird. “This is not Palisades versus Lake Grove. This is not Lakeridge versus Lake Oswego. This is the Lake Oswego School District, which is the number one school district in this state because of our academic outcomes, period.”
The board said an important part of advocating for all LOSD students, present and future, is to hear all sides for recommendations regarding future construction projects in the district.
2. A feasibility study would help provide more information on leasing revenue, costs of new school and use of district land
The feasibility study recommended by the LRFP committee would provide more information on the different factors that could impact the third phase of the capital construction bond.
The district could increase revenue if part of the Lake Grove property is developed and leased. One parent asked what those funds would be used for.
“The district's budget and funding are highly regulated at the state level. The bond monies that we collect are for infrastructure and those types of improvements laid out in a bond. Revenue that would come from leasing property is much less restrictive. The district's priorities are to maintain class sizes and staffing,” said Bills.
Another parent asked if the lessee would be disclosed publicly prior to the capital construction bond election campaign; the board said they would be.
The board added that further study could provide more data regarding elementary school bussing and walkability.
“I think it’s all part of feasibility; we still have a lot of questions,” said Aird. “We have to look at what’s possible, the other thing that none of us are really talking about is we have to get our high schools to meet next-generation learning; we are really behind on this. The long range facility plan called out STEM and career and technical education. Part of any bond has to make an investment in both high schools because your kids in elementary or preschool now need that really bad.”
3. Long range planning is only one part of the capital construction bond process
It isn’t quite time for a groundbreaking yet.
Updates to the long range facilities plan are just one part of the process in the planning of the third phase of the capital construction bond.
“This is not the beginning of the end,” said Bills. “We saw a desire for more public comment than those previously allocated spaces allowed for and so we're here this afternoon. It was worth it.”
One parent asked if there would be enough time to “form proper due diligence” and receive community input before the capital construction bond election campaign began.
Another question asked if voters should feel misled about the first two bond phases if a Lake Grove replacement or renovation doesn’t come to fruition. When the district laid out its plan in three phases back in 2017, the commitment was for Lake Grove to be renovated. Bills said that the school board should be able to pivot and make adjustments as costs and circumstances change.
There’s also a bond election calendar to contend with; the vote on the bond renewal has to happen in 2025 if taxes aren’t going to be raised.
“The first bond and the second bond were new bonds; that was new money that voters had to pay to pay for those bonds,” said board member Liz Hartman. “The bond coming up that we're looking at for 2025 is a renewal and it's a renewal from 20-25 years ago, when high schools were redone. This bond is estimated to bring in $180 million and the next time we can go for a bond is not until 2034. So that's nearly 10 years and that one will only be $50 million. After that, the next one from that would be in 2043.”
If the district fails to pass the bond renewal, residents would face a vote on higher taxes for a new bond before 2034. Board members said they were not considering delaying the 2025 renewal campaign until November, although the bond could appear on the fall ballot instead of May.
4. The city of Lake Oswego and the school district are partners, but the district makes its planning decisions independently.
Several questions were directed at the city of Lake Oswego’s interest in utilizing part of the Lake Grove site to build a new community center or library.
One parent said the city’s interest in the Lake Grove site had “put a sense of urgency on what is a very delicate and complicated matter.”
“The city and the school district are two distinct governmental bodies,” said Bills. “We make the school board decisions independent of the city and its leadership. The city makes decisions independent of us. Obviously, there is some amount of overlap of our shared interests. The city has an interest in the students in the community, and we have interest in the broader community as a whole, but the decision before us with respect to our facilities existed long before the city proposed the library, community center vision. I think it's unfortunate that the presentation of that vision to the community has, in my mind, sort of clouded that distinction.”
The board added that it would only discuss uses for the Lake Grove property, including a partnership with the city, if, in the course of the feasibility study, evidence showed that moving the elementary school to Uplands was the best option.
“We will look at the possibilities for all of our sites at issue in informing our decision of what's in the best interest of the district as a whole,” said Bills.
Hartman added that the city only raised the idea of a new community center or library because representatives knew the Lake Grove site was already part of discussions in the long range facilities plan. The district continues to consider multiple uses for the acres along Boones Ferry Road, including a brand new Lake Grove Elementary.
5. The district is weighing community input
One example of how public comment and community input has impacted school board discussions around the feasibility study is the future of the baseball and softball fields at Lake Grove.
After parents and coaches recently gave public comments, the school board felt it had a better sense of the importance of sports fields across the district.
“This goes to the importance of these listening environments,” said Bills. “We had a public comment about softball space, something that was previously unaware of. I didn't know that and that raised awareness for us and that is something that we are now thinking about. It's on our radar; it will be part of our consideration because we are looking for solutions and plans going forward.”
Community advocacy will continue to play a role in the continued development of the long range plan and capital construction bond renewal process. Recently, a group of Lake Grove parents started a Change.org petition to advocate for a replacement over a relocation.
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