Despite the vote, school district spokesman Craig Degginger said Feb. 9 that exactly how the bond pans out will depend on upcoming discussions with voters.

The main difference between the approved plan and one recommended earlier by a citizens advisory committee is building a new middle school in north Marysville. That would cost local taxpayers $34.2 million, with state coffers pitching in $13.8 million more. The panel had recommended replacing Totem Middle School along State Avenue downtown instead.

The bonds also would replace Cascade and Liberty elementary schools for $58.8 million. The state would chip in $12.3 million more. Liberty is the oldest school in the district built in 1951, and Cascade went up in 1955.

It also would replace or modernize most of Marysville-Pilchuck High School for $88.5 million, plus $23.2 million more from the state. That school was built in 1970.

Marysville Middle School, built in 1960, would be replaced for $34.2 million, with $13.8 million more from state funds.

The school board also increased money in a special project fund to $15 million to make sure all schools were upgraded in some way.

School Board President Pete Lundberg said he was glad the board did that.

“That’s the lead dog people are talking about,” he said, adding taxpayers want to get something personal for their money. “It does more for the community than any other option.”

If the bonds pass, someone with property valued at $250,000, for example, would pay about $312 a year, as the rate is $1.25 per $1,000. The committee recommended that the board keep the bond under $249 million and $1.29 per $1,000 valuation.

Rather than build the smaller schools first the district decided to build big first, which will save $10 million. Delaying the bigger-ticket items would have added more construction costs later.

As part of the restructuring in the school board vote, but which remains under discussion, Degginger says, middle school students who go to Totem would instead go to what is now Arts and Tech High School on the Tulalip campus. Superintendent Becky Berg said tribal members have been asking for a middle school there for years.

The students at Arts and Tech would then go to the revamped M-PHS and have their own mini-school there.

“The tribes are adamant they want to keep their kids together,” Lundberg said. “They will have their own school within a school at M-P. This bond is much more than about buildings.”

Assistant superintendent Ray Houser said he is sure families on the west side will like the direction the MSD is going.

“I feel for those families,” Houser said, adding they lose that neighborhood feeling going to school seven miles away at Totem.

Houser also likes the plan because it will save transportation costs.

“A lot of kids spend a lot of time on buses,” he said.

Another bonus of the new plan is the middle schools each will have 200 fewer students.

Finance director Jim Baker said the entire community will appreciate having smaller middle schools. He said some people take their kids out of the district during middle school because they are so large.

The district would like to see the part of Totem’s campus on State Avenue sold, as it is now zoned commercial. The rest would be beautified and possibly become school offices.

“There’s a lot of opportunity there,”  Houser said. “This option is the most viable, the most likely to be successful.”

The board expressed some sticker shock at the costs of schools, especially considering Grove cost about $19 million in 2008. Berg said these schools are much bigger and have full-size gyms and kitchens. The longevity of Grove is also about 10 years less than these new ones.

Lundberg said the only way the bond will pass is with enthusiasm from all the people who worked on it.

Nation said he felt rushed to make a decision. He objected that fellow directors Mariana Maksimos and Tom Albright could not weigh in. He felt that the talk about redistricting needed to include the public.

“Their voices need to be heard,” Nation said of all the stakeholders. “We can’t blind-side them. We have to let them know. I’m afraid we’re overlooking something in our quickness to make a decision here.”

Berg said there was no impending deadline to get a measure on the spring ballot. The district just wants to get started educating the public about its needs as soon as possible.

Lundberg said the chosen option is the most logical, but the community will have to be educated quickly about all of its benefits because the election is only months away.

“It will only cost us more if we wait,” Director Bruce Larsen said as there was talk of delaying a year before putting the measure on the ballot.

Lundberg said schools are so important to a community.

“People live where schools are good,” he said. “Ask any Realtor.”

Berg said it’s a shame the district fell behind in the upkeep of facilities during the recession because now it has to play catch up.

The chosen plan is “gutsier, but it solves a lot of needs. The public will decide if they agree or not,” she said.