Times/News

Highline School Board members and district staffers have been struggling with the need to move Aviation High School students off the Duwamish campus of South Seattle Community College next year.

Using the closed Sunnydale Elementary building had seemed the best alternative.

But Superintendent John Welch told board members Sept. 28 "there is a real possibility" that Aviation High students could now stay on the campus for a third year.

The students have been located at the campus near Boeing Field since the school opened in September 2004.

"I am excited to share this news with you," Welch declared.

He said that after a recent meeting with the community college president, it appeared the high school students could stay.

Subsequent meetings will determine if there "any hurdles," Welch added.

On Sept. 14, Welch reported that staying was not an option.

Architect Marilyn Brockman estimated Sept. 21 that renovating Sunnydale for high school students would cost about $9.6 million.

Alternatives presented included leasing and renovating the Kilroy Building in SeaTac for $11.4 million or renovating Woodside school and moving Woodside programs to other sites for $19.4 million.

The innovative Aviation High, administered by the Highline district, features a curriculum centered on aeronautics. The school expects to have 300 students by September 2006.

The district and the school's advisory board are seeking a permanent campus for the school - preferably near Boeing Field.

Originally, district staffers planned to add funding for an interim Aviation High site to a bond measure expected to be on the ballot on March 14.

Because students would have had to move into the site in 2006, district officials said other funding would have to be found.

Board members are expected to direct Welch at their Oct. 13 meeting to draft a $148 million bond resolution. A vote on the formal resolution is set for Oct. 27.

Of the proposed $148 million, $124.2 million would finance construction of Shorewood Elementary in Burien, Midway and Parkside elementaries in Des Moines, and Marvista Elementary in Normandy Park.

McMicken Heights Elementary in SeaTac would be rebuilt using state matching funds.

Other funding would go for Camp Waskowitz repairs, $3.3 million; security enhancements, $2 million; technology upgrades, $9 million; and roofing projects/emergency repairs, $9.5 million.

John Rose, CEO of Seattle Northwest Security, said the bond sales could be structured so that property taxes for Highline homeowners would increase by 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value.

If the bond is approved, Rose estimated homeowners would pay $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed home value for the new bond and previously approved construction bond for the tax years of 2007 through 2010.

The tax rate would go down in subsequent years, according to Rose's calculations.

Welch said the tax increase would amount to $30 per year for the owner of a home valued at $300,000.

Rose also reported the bond sales could be structured so that the principal on the technology upgrades would be paid off during the life of the equipment.

For example, if the district bought computers used for five years, the district would not be repaying the debt on them throughout the bond's 20-year life span.

In other business, district staffers outlined a plan to provide extra help to eight schools that are lagging behind academically.

Welch selected the schools earlier as "superintendent focus schools."

He noted, "These are schools we want to wrap our arms around."

The schools are Beverly Park Elementary and Cascade Middle in North Highline, Midway Elementary in Des Moines and Bow Lake Elementary, Chinook Middle and the three small learning communities on the Tyee High campus in SeaTac.