West Valley principal urges community to back funding to upgrade aging elementary school
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Summary
Nick Hartman, principal of Attannan Valley Elementary School, urged attendees to vote for funding to address poor facility conditions, inadequate technology infrastructure for 2025, safety exposure for young students and lack of restrooms in portables, noting state matching dollars would limit local tax impact.
Nick Hartman, principal of Attannan Valley Elementary School, told meeting attendees that the school’s facilities and infrastructure need urgent upgrades and urged the community to vote to fund them.
Hartman said a recent consultant review rated the school poorly on both functional analysis and physical condition, with the physical condition “very low,” and that the building’s infrastructure is not equipped to meet “the technological needs of students for 2025.” He said those limits prevent the school from offering programs that could raise student outcomes.
“The technological needs of students for 2025, the infrastructure is not built to support that,” Hartman said. He also raised safety concerns, saying modern safety needs differ from when the school was built and noting that “we’ve got kids that walk in and out of the building all day long” and that younger students must go outdoors to reach classrooms.
Hartman added that some students are taught in portable classrooms that lack bathrooms and water fountains, forcing pupils to use facilities in the main building during the day. “We don’t have bathrooms out there. We don’t have water fountains,” he said.
Putting the needs in fiscal context, Hartman said the West Valley School District has been “very fiscally responsible” and that current state matching funds combined with local contributions would keep the district’s tax rate low while enabling needed work. “It really makes it minimal to where we’re still the lowest tax rate than, you know, in the whole area,” he said.
He closed by urging community members to support the funding effort at the ballot box. “I would really encourage, the community to get out and vote,” Hartman said.
No formal vote or motion on a specific bond or measure appears in the transcript; Hartman presented conditions, funding context and a public appeal to vote.