Beaverton School District Puts $723 Million Bond On The May Ballot

BEAVERTON, OR — From replacing every one-to-one studentChromebook and iPad to completely rebuilding Beaverton High School and the Raleigh Hills K-8 School, the Beaverton School District has a long list of spending priorities. It hopes that a $723 million capital improvement bond will help take care of that.

The district said that all that they need is voters to vote yes for the proposal when they get their ballots for the May 17 election.

If approved, the money will be divided into six different kinds of projects:

• Modernization projects will receive $397 million.
• Seismic upgrades will receive $40 million.
• Technology projects will receive $44 million.
• Deferred maintenance projects will receive $120 million.
• Security and other equipment projects will receive $27 million.
• Projects to expand capacity will receive $10 million.

The largest single project that will get funded if the bond measure passes is the complete rebuild of Beaverton High School, according to the district.

The school is the only one in the district considered to be in "critical condition," according to a Facilities Condition Assessment conducted recently by the district.

Officials say that the school, the original part of which opened in 1916, has gone through more than a dozen additions over the years. As a result, the building is - in the words of one official – "a hodgepodge of electrical and mechanical systems."

The facilities assessment rated the school the only one in the district with a seismic rating lower than "Collapse Prevention," meaning, if there's an earthquake, the high school could collapse.

The district's proposal calls for spending $253 million to build an an approximately 290,000 square-foot building that would stand three or four stories tall. While plans could change, the district lans to build the new school on a field by the school along Southwest Farmington Road.

Students would attend the current school during construction. Once they moved into the new school, the current one would be demolished and turned into a parking lot and possibly more.

If the bond is approved, the new school would open in 2027 and be home to around 1,500 students, according to the district.

The district set up a website where people can learn about the bond measure and the projects that would be funded.