Rob Clark, Sequim School District’s interim superintendent, said last week the local school district’s facilities could use an upgrade.

“As politely as I can put it,” Clark told an audience at a family presentation on Dec. 9, “our buildings have seen better days. Our campuses, with wide open layout and so many access points, are not safe.”

With about 45 in attendance, Clark talked about his background and why he became a superintendent in the first place before getting to the meat and potatoes of his presentation: capital improvements in the district.

Clark, Sequim’s interim superintendent for the past five months, gave an overview of a school bond he’s putting together. He lauded the work done by his predecessor, superintendent Gary Neal, and Neal’s team in passing a capital projects levy in 2017, what he called a “fantastic” new central kitchen building.

Clark, however, said that the project was “just a drop in the bucket” in light of what the district actually needs.

Specifically, Clark said he thinks the district needs a new elementary school building and “major upgrades” to Sequim high School, Greywolf Elementary and the Olympic Peninsula Academy.

Clark also noted that the football stadium, track and SHS gym are all in “dire” need of upgrades, including a mention that the gym floor is the original flooring from when it was built in 1964.

One of the big notes that he gave those in attendance is that a bond can be less expensive for taxpayers as the cost is spread out over a 20-year period rather than, for example, a three-year period like with Sequim’s most recent capital projects levy.

However, a bond requires a 60 percent (plus one vote) majority of votes to pass. Sequim has struggled to pass such a bond since the 1996 bond that paid for construction of the Sequim Middle School and cafeteria and H building at Sequim High.

The school district proposed four bond campaigns between 2014-2016. The first, an ambitious, $154 million proposal in April 2014, managed just 47 percent of yes votes while the three successive bond plans, each targeting a new elementary school and other projects for about $50 million, each received more than 57 percent of ballots cast.

OPA concern

Lisa Bridge, a parent of a student at Olympic Peninsula Academy, expressed concern about the future of the school that has been operating out of a series of portables since the closure and demolition of their previous building.

Bridge said she wanted to know who makes the decisions for where the school would be going in the future and how they will be handled.

Clark replied that while the faculty of any school make many of the decisions, the school board and himself are the “final arbiters” of any major moves.

“I don’t want any students in portables,” Clark said of OPA’s situation, “but sometimes we have to make do until we can make it better.”

Clark’s goal seems to be to have that period of “making do” be as short as possible, but said there’s a lot of work to be done across the district to get their facilities up to par.

Long-range vision

Clark also said a bond can help fund the “significant” technology upgrades the district needs, and could help the district create an online academy and further web resources for students — an idea that was met with applause from the audience.

“Simply put, there’s too many student for who we are not meeting their needs,” he said. “And they’re either not getting what they need or they’re going elsewhere to get it.”

Clark told those in attendance that the school district “cannot afford what needs to be done in one fell swoop,” adding that he wants to help create a 20-30 year plan for updating and modernizing the school district, with goals set for each five- to 10-year period in that timeline.

“We need to bring back the pride in the Sequim School District,” Clark said. “I think there’s still some there, but it’s not nearly as big and bright as it used to be.”