Approval of this bond would serve families and residents for generations to come.
On Feb. 10, voters in the Port Townsend School District will be asked to approve Proposition 1, the authority to sell $99.25 million in bonds for a major renovation of the current high school campus. Join me in studying and supporting this complex measure.
Approval of Prop. 1 will be a game changer for the community, its students, staff and families. Funds from two staggered bond sales will address critical and long overdue needs at the top of the hill – the city’s historic high school campus. Nearing 100 years in age, the elegant collection of brick buildings has been held together and maintained for several years by Band-Aid fixes.
To be clear, the buildings are not a reflection on the education. Recently voted by U.S. News & World Report, Port Townsend High School ranked 17 among the top best high schools in Washington state based on the number of students enrolled in college accredited classes, engagement in activities, graduation rates and post high school plans. That said, the high school and adjacent Gael Stuart Building are the last student occupied sites to be updated for modern times. Blue Heron Middle School (1995) and Salish Coast Elementary (2018) were both built with strong support from voters and are in excellent condition. This leaves the open-campus high school as the only one left untouched by major facility improvements in the last 45 years. An independent assessment in 2024-25 deemed the state of the buildings C- at best, and the rest Ds and Fs. We must do better for our students.
The most catastrophic concerns at the high school fall under safety, security, and seismic events. However, inaccessibility, energy inefficiencies, lack of natural lighting, campus communications, along with dated science, technology, and vocational classrooms are also glaring needs, not just wants. Undertaking these improvements and maintaining the character of the historic campus was a high priority for students, staff and community members involved in the year-long facilities study.
By fully renovating the main building to include an addition, tearing down the oldest and most problematic annex building, improving the gym, upgrading the career and technical learning spaces and reconfiguring traffic and points of access to the schools in the heart of the community, approval of Proposition 1 would serve families and residents for generations to come. I believe most of us want that.
The proposed improvements also include a full renovation of the Gael Stuart Building across the street from the main campus. Built in 1952, this building is to be repurposed as the permanent home of OCEAN, the district’s growing K-12 alternative school. Currently squeezed into portables behind the middle school, OCEAN serves 150 students, 100 of whom are high-school age. With a long, storied history of alternative learning programs in the school district, locating OCEAN adjacent to the high school and in the uptown area where the schools can share amenities makes good sense.
With today’s enrollment, over 550 students would benefit from the proposed bond to renew the combined high school/OCEAN campus. Added to that, capacity for 200 more students has been taken into account in the planning for these two schools.
Voter approval of this bond will be a heavy lift. We’ll need 60 percent of votes cast in the Port Townsend School District to say “yes” to a 20-year addition to property taxes of an estimated .68 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The good news for property owners is that the district is fiscally responsible, has excellent bond ratings, steadily increasing enrollment, and by comparison, is in the bottom third of school tax rates in the state. On top of that, the district recently received a $2 million refund on the Salish Coast bond which by 2035 will be paid off completely.
It’s time to reinvest in renewing the district’s high school and OCEAN Alternative School at the top of the hill. We know that it won’t be less expensive later. Please join us in learning about the needs of this proposal, spreading the word on this important measure and in the new year consider supporting your local schools by voting “yes” on Prop. 1.
Jennifer James-Wilson
Co-chair, Quality Community Schools