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School board settles on $21 million budget
By Jim Cornelius

Architects have the green light to start detailed design work on a $20 million high school -- which will require significant cuts from the schematic plans presented in recent weeks.

After a long and contentious debate and a 3-2 vote on Friday, November 2, the Sisters School Board stuck with a $21 million budget target previously established on October 13 -- including a $1 million (5 percent) contingency. That $1 million comes from interest generated from the voter-approved $20.5 million bond.

An additional $900,000 in interest will be left untouched -- but it remains available to be spent at the board's discretion.

The district has also budgeted $450,000 to remodel the current high school for use as a middle school.

Board chair Heather Wester and member Steve Keeton opposed the decision, holding out for a $20 million budget for the high school -- including contingency. They believe interest earned should be used to pay down the bond.

Cost estimates indicate that the current schematic design would cost about $2 million more than the $21 million target. However, Keeton has compiled a list of potential "value engineering" items -- changes in materials and construction techniques -- that could save about $1 million. He says that there could be still more savings through value engineering.

Those value engineering items would likely change the appearance of the school considerably. Scott Steele showed drawings for a less expensive flat-roof design. Some board members said they are willing to sacrifice aesthetics to keep other elements, but others expressed distaste for the less attractive design.

"I don't want to be part of building an institutional building that looks like a Costco building," said board member Bill Reed.

He said that although he does not want to build "a Taj Mahal," the building should fit into the community.

Wester -- who took strong exception to comments from middle school principal Lora Nordquist and Bill Reed that not spending all the money available amounts to "a crime against the kids of this community" -- expressed frustration that the board has been put in the position of paring away from an excessively costly design.

"We never should have had to make cuts," she said. "It should never have gotten to this point."

Finding places to cut in the design is already proving problematic.

The board, on a motion by Glen Lasken, directed the architect -- while not touching classroom space -- to design around a 900-seat auditorium. That motion passed over the objections of Keeton, who argued that preserving the large auditorium would force architects to make deeper cuts elsewhere. Wester also opposed Lasken's motion.

Keeton and Wester wanted to stick with a design that includes a 700-seat auditorium.

Architect Steele will work through another round of discussions with school staff and administration to determine what will be left in and what will be cut out of the school design. Steele will also create "add alternatives" to allow for putting elements back in if bids come in low.

That is a possibility, Steele indicated, given Oregon's slumping economy. While he said he has "no crystal ball... the bidding climate is looking good." However, Steele said, the district should be cautious in anticipating where bids might come in.

In their debate over the design budget, board members were faced with the realization that -- with present design costs running at about $23 million -- cuts are going to be necessary, even if the district spends the entire $22.4 million in bond and interest it has available.

A large crowd, including many students from the high school Leadership Class, turned out to weigh in on an ongoing debate over whether or not the district should spend the interest money.

Most of those present urged the board to use all the money available.

The debate has inflamed passions in the Sisters community -- passions that were evident both in public testimony and in board discussion.

But in the end, positions remained unchanged: Heather Wester and Steve Keeton believe voters approved a $20 million school and interest money should be used to pay down the bond. Bill Reed and Glen Lasken believe the interest money should be spent to maximize the quality of the school.

Jeff Smith sought a middle ground.

That middle ground of $21 million left none of the board members satisfied and it did not finally resolve the question of the disposition of the interest.

But setting the budget figure does allow the design process to go forward -- into the difficult work of determining what stays and what must go in the final shape of a new Sisters High School.

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