Estacada SD 108 weighs May bond, student reconfiguration as enrollment outpaces facilities

During the Feb. 4, 2025 special session, the Estacada SD 108 Board of Directors discussed potential next steps to address continuing student growth and building capacity after a prior bond attempt failed.

Superintendent Carpenter and board members said enrollment is still rising and that three portable classrooms at River Mill Elementary are nearly full; the district is already discussing adding portables at Estacada Middle School. The board described three core needs: competitive high‑school facilities, Title IX obligations for athletics (men’s and women’s wrestling were cited), and daily physical education capacity for middle-school students.

Board members said the district could submit a bond for the May 2025 election if it chooses; the filing deadline in February 2025 was noted. Using the district’s current tax rate of $1.16 per $1,000 assessed value as a baseline, staff presented rough financing scenarios: a 5‑year measure at that rate could yield about $12.6 million; a 10‑year measure could yield roughly $24.7 million. Board members also reported a potential supplemental grant of $6 million prepared by the district’s bond campaign team (Danny Randall, Maggie Kelly and Josh Gray) that would be available only if voters approved a bond.

Directors discussed alternatives to a bond, including buying additional portables (quoted in the meeting at about $300,000 each), staggered school sessions (AM/PM shifts) or multi‑track year‑round schedules — options several directors described as unpopular or short‑term. One director noted that adding nine more portables to reach a quadruple of current portables would cost roughly $2.7 million and that locating additional portables would reduce play and sports areas on campus.

A reconfiguration committee led by Jennifer Berman, the district’s director of teaching and learning, has begun meeting to explore how to redistribute students across existing facilities. Board members said reconfiguration decisions will be closely tied to any bond proposal the board might place before voters. No board decision was taken at the meeting; directors said they will continue committee work and consider whether to include a bond question on the board agenda for its next meeting in early February.