SEASIDE HIGH SCHOOL • CLASS OF 2017
CONGRATULATIONS
CLASS OF 2017
SEA CHANGE
New campus gets a go
S
easide School District voters said a resounding
“yes” in November to a $99.7 million bond to
move three schools out of the tsunami inunda-
tion zone.
In a 65 percent to 35 percent vote, residents endorsed
the plan to replace deteriorating schools at an 80-acre lo-
cation in the city’s East Hills adjacent to Seaside Heights
Elementary School.
“This victory belongs to our community which had
the foresight to see how important high quality schools
are to the future of everyone who lives in the Sea-
side School District,” Superintendent-emeritus Doug
Dougherty said after the bond’s passage. “New schools
benefi t the entire community, strengthen our economy
and, in this case, provide a safe place for all in an emer-
gency. From retirees to those just starting out, employ-
ees to business owners, children and families; education
touches everyone and strengthens the fi ber and opportu-
nity of our community.”
PHOTOS BY R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Seniors Kara Ipson, Lizzy Barnes and Emma Dutcher
were among student leaders to advocate for a new
school campus. Students played a key role in helping
in the bond’s passage.
The bond came three years after a failed $128.8 mil-
lion dollar plan. The scaled-back proposal eliminated
an auditorium, covered bleachers, long-term emergency
shelters and a varsity playing fi eld. The bond equates to
about $1.35 per thousand, a 37.5 percent total reduction
in cost from the previous bond. A home with an assessed
value of $200,000 would see a tax hike of about $270
and a $400,000 home about $540.
Advocates of the proposal, including Vote Yes For
Our Local Schools, presented a sustained campaign to
promote the bond, which, they said, was necessary not
only for the safety of the students but because of the
condition of the schools. Gearhart Elementary School,
Broadway Middle School and Seaside High School
were built with an expected life span of 45 to 50 years.
Each has been used beyond that span. Dougherty de-
scribed the schools as unsafe, deteriorating and “very
ineffi cient.
With a land gift of 80 acres from Weyerhaeuser Co. in
the East Hills, along with favorable interest rates and a
likelihood of limited matching funds from the state, pro-
ponents said “this was the best time” to pass the bond.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our community for step-
ping forward and making a truly historic decision that
will improve the lives of children and families for gen-
erations to come,” Dougherty added.
Seaside Signal/Cannon Beach Gazette • 17