Cheney School District asking for $52-million bond; some worry proposal ignores Airway Heights area students

Cheney School District voters will be asked to approved a $52 million bond on Feb. 14. The money would pay for high school and elementary school renovations and expansions.

However, some community members believe the proposal ignores the needs of Airway Heights-area students and families.

“We’re growing at a rate of about 100 students a year,” said Associate Superintendent Sean Dotson.

The district tried to pass a $44.9 bond in 2015, but that bond fell just short of the necessary 60 percent support. The district last passed a bond in 2010. Dotson believes the 2015 bond failed partly because it only focused on high school renovations and didn’t address elementary school needs.

Currently the district uses 18 portables – 10 at the elementary level and eight at the high school, Dotson said.

The bond will be on the Feb. 14 special election ballot. If passed it would raise the tax rate 59 cents, to $5.42 per $1,000 assessed property value.

The majority of the money – $35.1 million – would go to Cheney High School. The school is overcrowded, with 1,200 students in a building designed for 900 students, Dotson said. The high school is expected to grow to 1,600 by 2028.

The bond money would pay for an additional 17 classrooms at Cheney High School as well as a weight and fitness room, auditorium and a practice gym. Of those 17 classrooms there would be a woods room, metal shop, agriculture room and business classroom.

At the elementary level Sunset Elementary School, in Airway Heights, would add 10 classrooms. Windsor Elementary School would add eight classrooms and Betz Elementary School would add seven classrooms.

Additionally the money would pay for the installation of secure entryways at all district schools.

Some bond money would be used to purchase additional land. The bond would “accommodate current students and future student growth,” Dotson said.

Some community members are concerned that the proposal overlooks the city of Airway Heights, which doesn’t have its own high school.

“Families are really getting discouraged,” said Kippie Shadix. “Because for years and years we’ve been asking for more schools in the north part of the district.”

Shadix’s three daughters graduated from Cheney High School. She said that there are “generations of families whose kids have to catch the bus at 7 a.m. or earlier.”

Additionally, Shadix maintains that the distance makes it harder for children from poorer families to participate in after-school activities, and unfairly distributes tax money.

Dotson said he’s aware of these concerns. However, at this point having two 600-student high schools isn’t feasible.

“We just don’t see it as practical from a construction standpoint and from an operations standpoint,” he said.

Dotson said if the district were to split its high school, it would come at the expense of programs such as band, choir, advanced placement and career and technical classes.

Part of the challenge is the geographic size of the Cheney School District, he said. The district is more than 385 square miles.

“When you have that large a district that does mean unfortunately some kids are going to have longer bus rides,” Dotson said. “Everyone would like to have that school close to their neighborhood.”

Shadix said she won’t be voting for the bond next week.

She believes the bond’s emphasis on elementary school renovations and expansions is the district’s way of appeasing angry families. In Shadix’s opinion the district should split the high school.

“To me, it’s a deal breaker because they haven’t listened to our voices for generations,” she said.