Vote on school bonds is Feb. 6

The White Salmon Valley School District's $1.7 million capital improvement bond -- set for public vote on Feb. 6 -- includes a little of everything in terms of facilities expansion and upgrades.

For starters, the levy will provide money ($482,000) for new classroom space at Hulan L. Whitson Elementary School, which is experiencing enrollment growth in grades K-4.

The levy also will pay for new roofing on Wayne M. Henkle Middle School ($430,000); the roofs covering the older section of the school, built in 1962, and the newer section, constructed in 1990, leak during the wet seasons.

Columbia High School, for its part, will get new student lockers ($81,000) in its A and C Court buildings; the lockers -- large enough to accommodate the needs of today's backpack-toting student -- will replace the original hardware installed in 1970, the year CHS opened at its current location.

Moreover, passage of the levy will allow the district to re-carpet its libraries, portable classrooms and office spaces, and put down a new rubberized flooring in Whitson and Henkle classrooms ($300,000); the new carpet will be of a higher, more durable quality, while the rubberized flooring will feature an estimated 50-year life.

Other big-ticket projects in need of bond funding are restrooms under the CHS Stadium grandstand ($250,000) and repair of the CHS Stadium track ($82,000) and the high school/middle school parking lot ($65,000).

When the grandstand was built in 2002, the district didn't have enough money for restrooms. The stadium's rubberized track, put down 15 years ago, is showing its age, while the entry way to the parking lot has developed cracks from past pavement cuts. (The cuts were made when utilities for the Early Childhood Development Center were installed).

Levy approval would give the district the means to complete the restrooms, resurface the track and repair and seal-coat the parking lot.

Finally, an approved bond would enable the district to equip an athletic trainer's/physical fitness room ($10,000) in the basement of CHS's Miller Memorial Gym.

The room, currently used for a hodgepodge of things (P.E. class laundry, an ice-making machine), will provide training staff space for treating student-athlete injuries and educating athletes and coaches on ways to prevent sports-related injuries.

Polling places for the Feb. 6 election will be open that day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 6 in order to be counted.

At least 931 registered voters must cast ballots in order to validate the election. Moreover, to pass, the measure must receive not less than 559 Yes votes to achieve the 60 percent supermajority required by state law.