Additional new Highline schools and new buses have been delayed because of the current economic downturn.

Assistant Highline schools superintendent Geri Fain told board members on Oct. 22 that district staff is recommending that board members postpone placing a construction bond and transportation levy on the ballot.

Plans were underway to put a school construction bond on the March ballot. Fain told board members the proposed measure should be delayed until March 2010. Highline voters have previously approved two construction bonds.

Fain cited advice from Highline Citizens for Schools that because of the economic climate "this is not a good time" to ask taxpayers for more money. The citizens' group runs the district's bond and levy campaigns.

Focus has shifted to a March 2010 election.

Fain said the district would use the same planning assumptions for a delayed bond. Designing of selected projects would begin at the same time, although elementary schools take less time to build, Fain noted. The district would maintain the same quality of construction as used in other recently built schools.

District officials also assume construction costs will rise 6 percent each year.

That means that bond options that ranged from $196.5 million to $382 million for a March 2009 election now would cost from $208.3 million to $404.9 million if approved at a March 2010 election.

The board is expected to decide next fall on a bond amount to submit to voters in 2010.

In addition to asking for funds to build new schools, a bond measure could include other projects. On the last bond approved by voters, money was included for technology and security improvements.

Two important board decisions will affect the bond amount.

Des Moines Elementary is at the top of a consultant's list of schools that should be replaced. The current location near downtown Des Moines is considered a historical site. That designation increases construction costs.

The district could rebuild at the current location or move the school to the old Zenith site on South 240th Street near the Landmark on the Sound (former Masonic Home) retirement facility.

The board also must decide whether the district's four middle schools should house sixth, seventh and eighth- graders. Currently middle schools only contain seventh and eighth-graders.

Besides Des Moines, the other schools most likely to be replaced are Pacific Middle, Sylvester Middle, Highline High and the Tyee High campus.

Which schools are replaced would depend on the bond amount.

The districts is also looking at $135.5 million in critical improvements to heating, air conditioning, and roofing even if schools are not replaced. Repairs would not be needed on schools that are rebuilt.

Fain also recommended that a proposed transportation levy request be postponed from 2009 to March 2011. It could be teamed with an educational programs levy in 2011, according to Fain.

The district anticipates a better economic outlook in 2011, Fain noted.

District officials will take the extra time to update vehicle fund data, determine number of buses needed and research alternative fuel options, she said.

Superintendent John Welch also relayed bad economic news to board members.

He noted the state, which provides basic education funding to school districts, is facing a minimum $2.3 billion budget shortfall.

"It is anticipated it will be $4 billion or more," Welch added.

Highline has also put funds in a King County investment pool. The pool has recently sold securities at 25 cents to 60 cents on the dollar, resulting in a $600,000 loss to Highline's general fund, according to the superintendent.

"I don't want to be Mr. Gloom and Doom but this (economic downturn) will impact districts significantly," Welch concluded.

He also announced that state auditors will be conducting a routine performance audit of the district's construction management since June 2005.