A less expensive alternative

In his quest to learn all he could about student habits at Cheney High School, resident and member of the Citizens Facility Advisory Committee Bill Johns said he went to the school one day during lunch and noticed school staff had only set up six chairs at each of the 31 round tables in the cafeteria, and none of the tables were full. Johns said he brought this to school district officials’ attention, asking them if they had any hard numbers on the number of students that utilized the cafeteria each day.

“They said, ‘we don’t know,’” Johns told the Cheney Free Press editorial board.

So, he went back to the school to see if he could get his own lunch count — and noticed there were just four chairs at each of the 31 tables, with some tables now full. The spectacle didn’t sit well with Johns.

“That’s the kind of thing that keeps me going,” he said. “Don’t just stick a stick in my eye.”

Johns has been mounting a one-person campaign against the proposed $44.88 million high school renovation bond currently before school district voters. To be precise, Johns is not against some of the proposed modifications, he understands growth in the district has created the need for more classroom space and reconfigured facilities, including the cafeteria, to relieve congestion and address safety issues.

For Johns, it’s other issues that create concern the district is potentially overreaching financially in proposing some items on the bond he feels can be addressed in other, more economical ways. Johns’ proposal would scale back the proposed renovations to $11.65 million, an amount that would address all of the above issues as well as build a separate facility on the high school campus for the alternative school, Three Springs High School.

Under his proposal, the 12-classroom addition — with provisions for second-floor expansion for future growth — would be built according to architect NAC’s plans at a cost of $9 million. Three Springs would be built at $1.15 million, less than the proposed $2.3 million because Johns said the new footprint is bigger than what the school had at its former location at the Fisher Building and it is not growing with students.

The cafeteria/commons and administration and safety issues is also scaled back in his proposal from a proposed $15.1 million to just $1.5 million. Johns proposes removing the cafeteria’s north wall to accommodate 50 more tables, with all tables seating eight students, allowing over 400 students to be served during lunch and thereby removing the current situation where many students eat in the hallways, restricting traffic flow.

Connecting the two hallways leading to Hatch Gym into one single hallway, something in the proposed plans, would help relieve congestion, and new locks would be installed in the entryway doors, the configuration of which would remain the same.

Missing from Johns’ proposal is a new wrestling/aerobic exercise addition, a third gymnasium and a performing arts complex. The largest of these, at $13.9 million, is the 700-seat performing arts auditorium, something Johns said can be covered through existing district facilities, adding that performances he has been to in the high school’s Little Theatre have demonstrated students’ creativity in adapting to a smaller space.

“The last play (Early December’s “Sing for Your Supper”), I’d hire those who put it on,” he said. “They didn’t have the best, but they used what they had and put on one of the best performances I’ve seen.”

Johns doesn’t come to his decisions lightly or without some level of experience. A native of Wenatchee, he and his wife have lived in the Cheney area for over 40 years, sending their children through the school district.

A Vietnam veteran, Johns worked with the Army Corps of Engineers after receiving his civil engineering degree, followed by a stint with the Soil Conservation Service and several private engineering firms. He eventually worked six years with the city of Spokane’s Public Works Department doing construction planning and design before moving to Spokane County where he worked for 13 years, rising to become the county’s chief engineer.

He eventually left Spokane County to work in planning for Adams County, mainly because that position was more “hands on.”

“In Spokane, I just dealt with problems,” Johns said.

Johns is also a veteran of the Cheney School District’s bond campaigns, having served not only on the recent citizens committee but also on the one that helped pass the 1993 bond expanding the high school — which also included a school levy vote on the same ballot.

A lot of Johns’ concern over the proposed bond comes from his view that the district is over extending itself financially while not addressing all of the facility issues. Passage of the proposed bond, coupled with the middle school bond passed in 2010, amounts to a 15 percent property tax increase over the next 21 years, Johns writes in his proposal, while projected growth could lead to the need for another elementary school in five years, potential remodeling of four elementary schools in eight years, along with buses to replace an aging fleet and new technology — including a projected $42.9 million technology upgrade of the current high school in 2025.

Johns believes there’s a better way to prepare for this while also handling existing growth.

“Even I hate to say no, and I’m not saying no,” Johns said. “For eleven-six, you can do this.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].