Opinion: Double the money at Ridgefield School District

The View Ridge/Sunset Ridge campus was built with funds from the 2017 Ridgefield School District bond, which had a total cost of $107.5 million: File photo

Ridgefield resident Heidi Pozzo reports there has been a 334 percent increase in Ridgefield bond measure requests in the last 10 years

Heidi Pozzo
for Clark County Today

Doubling your money used to have a good connotation. Maybe it was a savings account, or growing your business, or maybe your salary. But these days, double your money seems to refer to costs going up.

And that’s what’s been happening at Ridgefield School District. Every time a bond measure is presented to voters, it seems to be double the cost of the last one. The projects done in conjunction with the district’s 2012 bond cost $49 million. The 2017 bond projects cost about $107.5 million (after reimbursement from the city of Ridgefield for the RACC and the RORC). The 2024 proposed bond projects are anticipated to cost $212.5 million. And that’s before interest!

That is a 334 percent increase in a decade!

How many people do you know that have allowed spending to increase 334 percent in just 10 years?

Something changed between the 2012 bond and the 2017 bond. In 2012, people voted on the bond then the projects were designed to maximize facilities built with the dollars provided. Good schools with cost effective design and construction.

The facilities were built in 2014/2015, just before the design work began for the 2017 bond. Sure, there were probably some items like steel that increased in price. But doubling in cost in that short a time frame is something else.

2015 began the era of Pursuing Premier. Every project requires asking if it is premier. In 2017, the projects were already designed with many upgrades to meet the new focus of building premier facilities when they were voted on.

Something else happened in that 2017 bond. The district took on the role of providing community education and youth sports, a function normally performed by cities and volunteer organizations.

You may have thought you weren’t paying anything for the sports complex, the RORC, but you are. The district owns the land (which you paid for) and handles all the scheduling of activities, administration, operations and maintenance. The city of Ridgefield reimburses the district for 60 percent of the ongoing cost.

With the proposed 2024 bond, we see the continued evolution. Facilities designed to be premier. A synthetic, lighted, full size soccer field and upgraded gym at the K-4 school for use in community programs. There’s also an outdoor basketball court. These are not features typically found at an elementary school. And from the renderings, it appears more parking than is typically needed at a K-4 school. They are included to support the community sports needs.

Again, civic life and community programs are important. However, these are not school programs and are typically paid for by cities. If you live in unincorporated Clark County, you are paying a parks fee that builds these types of facilities already.

The 5-8 school has not been designed, but will presumably have upgraded features to be premier as well. There’s no information currently available to know what will be included. Or if it will be comparable to the existing school.

Then there’s the dedicated wrestling room at the high school and the metals lab. Both of which are nice to have, especially since the original plan was to remodel the existing metals lab. There are a number of programs that already exist in the community that deliver on next steps of career progression for CTE.

Yes, kids should gain exposure to CTE programs in high school. But each individual school district cannot take on the full cost of programs alone. That’s why Cascadia Tech exists and is partially funded by Ridgefield School District. And that’s why the Clark College Advanced Manufacturing campus is being built in Ridgefield.

When too much gets added in, the cost of schools becomes unaffordable. And those capital costs get followed by operational costs, so levies go up. Ridgefield is a small school district and can’t afford to take on everything. Spending should be focused on mission critical needs. Educating kids.

In case you were wondering what’s included in the bonds, here it is:

The 2012 bond (Total cost $49 million):

Added a gym, cafeteria/assembly room and classrooms to Union Ridge
Added a cafeteria/assembly room and classrooms to South Ridge
Added a performing arts theater, band room, gym, cafeteria/commons and classrooms to the high school

The 2017 bond (Total cost $107.5 million):

Built View Ridge/Sunset Ridge
Demolished two buildings and built a new STEM/library/classroom building
Converted the old View Ridge into the Ridgefield Administration and Civic Center

The proposed 2024 bond (Total cost $212.5 million):

Build a K-4 school
Build a 5-8 school
Add a metals shop, wrestling room, classrooms at the high school
Various maintenance projects across all schools

Heidi Pozzo has been a Ridgefield resident for 16 years. She is a concerned citizen who would like students to get a good education and thinks we can do it in a more cost-effective way.

Ridgefield resident Heidi Pozzo reports there has been a 334 percent increase in Ridgefield bond measure requests in the last 10 years

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