Learn More About Potential Improvements To Our Schools and Facilities

• January 31, 2024: Request for Qualifications (RFQs) from architects was published in The Daily Journal of Commerce and the Mercer Island Reporter. 
• February 21, 2024: Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) were received from architects for both the IMS and MIHS Concept Design work.
• March 5, 2024: Three architectural firms were interviewed for MIHS.
• March 7, 2024: Four architectural firms were interviewed for IMS.
• March 28, 2024: Board Study Session: Update on progress, Middle School Cost Analysis, Procurement Alternatives (GC/CM & DB) Board approved contracts with Mahlum Architects and Mithun Architects for MIHS and IMS Concept Design work.
• April, May, & June 2024: Information gathering phase by both teams.
• May 30, 2024: Board Study Session around possible costs for an elementary school and an update on the current Concept Design work. Board direction to continue with IMS and MIHS, do not add an elementary school.
• June 20, 2024: Board Meeting update from the design teams for MIHS and IMS. The Board directed the continuation of the design and estimating work over the summer.
• July & August: Design, documentation, and preliminary cost estimating by both teams.
• August 29, 2024: Board Study Session update from the design teams for MIHS, IMS, Must-Do, and other potential projects and costs. The Board provided direction to continue with the design refinement and student, staff, and community feedback. For MIHS, the Board is particularly interested in a prioritized group of improvements vetted with students, staff, and key community groups.
• September & October 2024: Design refinement, prioritization, cost estimating, staff, student, and community outreach by both teams.

** Proposed - Subject to Board Approval**

• October 24, 2024: Board update on Concept Design and Bonding with Piper Sandler.
• November 14, 2024: Board update on final recommendations
• December 12, 2024: Board update – first reading of Bond Resolution
• January 9 or 23, 2025: Board update – vote on Bond Resolution
• January & February 2025: District coordination with King County Elections
• February 21, 2025: Last day for filing with King County Elections for April Vote
• April 22, 2025: Election Day

The most recent bond was passed in 2014 and followed a failed bond in 2012. The Island has a history of initially presenting very comprehensive bond packages (1990 and 2012) that were not well received by the community. After each failed bond attempt, the District scaled down the scope and cost of the bond to pass bonds in 1993, 1994, 1996, and 2014.   

Significant Upgrades to District Facilities Through Bonds

In February 2014 a $98.8 million bond on the ballot passed at 74.07% which led to this construction in 2014, 2015, and 2016:

• 2015 & 2016
  • Northwood Elementary: relocation of North Mercer tenants, demolition and new constructions.
  • Islander Middle School: Partial replacement of Islander Middle School (commons spaces, library, gym, admin, and new music wing with dedicated Band, Choir/Orchestra, Jazz Band rooms and multiple high-tech recording and practice rooms, instrument storage).
• 2014 & 2015
  • MIHS: Additions and select renovation, including Material Science, General Science, General Classrooms, Street Frontage, Main Parking Lot Reconfiguration (Bond)

In 2012 MISD proposed a $200M bond to replace Island Park, Lakeridge, West Mercer, IMS, and add 12 classrooms at MIHS that did not pass. 

In May 2002 a $1.1 million bond on the ballot passed at 67.09%. This bond was used for a small addition to the 300 Building at IMS.

From 1993 to 1996, voters approved three separate, smaller bonds for a total of $54 million. These bonds funded renovating all five schools, but did not rebuild Lakeridge as originally planned.

• In May 1996 a $26.7 million bond on the ballot passed at 65.3%.
• In November 1994 a $16.4 million bond on the ballot passed at 61.4%.
• In November 1993 a $10.9 million bond on the ballot passed at 71.07%.

In 1990, the Mercer Island School District proposed a bond measure for $49.5 million to rebuild Lakeridge Elementary and remodel West Mercer, Island Park, IMS, and MIHS, which did not pass.

Bonds are for building! A bond provides funding for capital projects such as purchasing property for schools, constructing new schools, or modernizing existing schools. Bonds are sold to investors who are repaid with interest over time from property tax collections, generally between 10-25 years.

60 percent of voter approval is needed to pass a school district construction bond. In order for the bond to pass even with 60 percent approval, it is required that there is a 40 percent voter turnout based upon the number of votes cast in the most recent state General Election (November 2024). This is known as validation. 

The bond vote takes place on April 22, 2025. Ballots are mailed by King County Elections to show up 18 days before the date of the vote. 

A bond provides funding for capital projects such as purchasing property for schools, constructing new schools, or modernizing existing schools. Bonds are sold to investors who are repaid with interest over time from property tax collections, generally between 10-25 years. Bonds require a super majority to pass (60%).

A levy is a short-term, local property tax passed by the voters of a school district that generates revenue for the district to fund programs and services that the state does not fund or fully fund as part of “basic education.” The Cap/Tech levy can pay for small capital improvements and building maintenance like carpets, boilers, roof upgrades, and new paint. 

Visit Bonds & Levies: The Seeds of School Funding website which provides more information on bonds and levies.

You can also visit our Levy page for more information on levies in MISD.

A school bond for the Mercer Island School District serves several important purposes, including:

1. Funding Capital Projects: Bonds provide financing for major capital projects, such as building new schools, renovating existing facilities, and improving infrastructure.

2. Improving Safety and Security: Many bonds focus on enhancing safety features in schools, including upgrades to security systems and improvements to emergency response capabilities.

3. Modernizing Facilities: Funds from bonds can be used to update technology, classrooms, and common areas to create a more effective learning environment.

4. Compliance and Accessibility: Bonds may help ensure that facilities meet current health, safety, and accessibility standards.

Ultimately, school bonds aim to enhance the educational experience for students and ensure that the district can meet its long-term goals for growth and development.

Unlike houses that typically house a limited number of people, the high school and middle school welcome 900 to 1,400 students daily. Additionally, schools undergo frequent changes, adapting to new technology needs and updated health and safety requirements.

When we build through voter-approved bonds, we strive for energy-efficient buildings that focus on safety, security, and accessibility supporting student learning for all students, staff, families, and our community.

Bonds require a supermajority to pass, which is 60%. For a bond to pass, the election must also be validated, meaning voter turnout must be equal to 40% of the voters who cast ballots in the last general election.

You can register to vote by visiting the VoteWA website.

Yes! Washington State law provides two tax benefit programs for senior citizens and individuals who are disabled: property tax exemptions and property tax deferrals. For more information on qualifications, please contact the King County Assessor's Office.

Yes, bonds include interest.

Bonds represent a form of debt that requires repaying principal with interest, making it essential for districts to carefully plan and manage their financial strategies to minimize costs and ensure fiscal responsibility. As a practice, our district includes bond interest in its projections to ensure a clear understanding of how potential new bonds and their repayment affect current and future tax rates.

If the April 2025 Bond measure is passed, the District plans to sell bonds in calendar year 2026 and make principal and interest payments through 2040, totaling $231.4 million at an estimated interest rate projected at 4.7%. The bond principal and interest amounts are set over the repayment period and will not increase over time. When it comes to bond interest, financial standing, timing and monitoring are essential cost saving strategies that can save taxpayers millions. The District continues to maintain a strong financial standing and high bond rating (Moody’s Aa2).

Inflation and unpredictable changes to local, national and international economies annually cause construction labor and material costs to rise. The first obvious strategy is to pass a bond and lock-in a low interest rate that allows construction and associated purchasing efforts to begin immediately before material and labor costs rise. The second strategy is bond refunding throughout the life of the bond to refinance to lower rates. This is similar to refinancing a home mortgage when interest rates are lower. For previous bond measures, the District has provided significant cost savings by continually monitoring to secure lower interest rates.

On March 26, 2024 MISD successfully refinanced the remaining $40,495,000 outstanding from the 2014 Bonds saving island taxpayers $1.5 million during the remaining five years of bond payments.

The current tax rate for all Mercer Island bonds and levies is $1.44 per $1,000 of assessed home value.

If approved, the April 2025 bond would make the tax rate $1.89 starting in 2026. This would increase the tax rate for the district by $0.45.

This increase of $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed home value equates to $450 annually for every $1 million in assessed value.

Assessed value is the dollar value assigned to a property for purposes of measuring applicable taxes. Assessed value is used to determine the value of a residence or business for tax purposes and takes comparable residential and commercial property sales and inspections into consideration. Assessed property value is determined by the King County Assessor’s Office.

Mercer Island’s total tax rate is second lowest of all King County School Districts, with only Skykomish SD No. 404 lower with a $0.46 rate. The highest total tax rate of all King County School Districts is $4.71. If the April 2025 bond is approved Mercer Island will have the third lowest total tax rate ($1.89) of King County School Districts.

Compared to other districts with similar assessed values, Mercer Island has the lowest tax rate. If the April 2025 bond is approved Mercer Island will have the second lowest tax rate of $1.89 among districts with similar assessed values.

No.

Voters approve a total amount for the District to collect. As property values increase or as more properties are built, the rate paid by individual taxpayers may go down.

The voters approved a $98.8M Bond in 2014. Escalated to 2025, that bond would be the equivalent to $172M.

Washington State provides what is called SCAP (School Construction Assistance Program) funding for schools once they have reached 30-yers of age, or 30-years since the last major remodel.  The formula is based on enrollment, allowable square feet per enrolled student, and the SCAP dollars per allowable square foot.  This total is then factored by the district’s match percentage.  For IMS we have determined the district should be eligible for up to $4 million in funding.  The district will apply for and diligently pursue every dollar available, but there are no guarantees when OSPI will reimburse.  The district has committed to front funding the project and returning the state funds to pay down the bonds.  The high school is not eligible for SCAP. 

The bond project at MIHS creates meaningful impact through targeted student, educator, and community- focused improvements. The programmatic updates are designed to enhance safety, access, academic opportunities, and the high school experience for students inside and outside of the traditional classroom. The significant impact of the HVAC work will improve temperature consistency in the building and improve healthy learning environments.

The bond project at IMS will reunite the campus under one roof, completing the IMS campus improvements our community began in 2014 to replace aging structures with a cohesive, modern building designed to improve teaching and learning conditions for all. Having all IMS students under one roof will improve security by having secure indoor and outdoor areas for student passing and socializing.  

The proposed bond projects create meaningful impact through targeted student, educator, and community-focused improvements. The programmatic updates are designed to enhance safety access, academic opportunities, and the high school experience for students inside and outside of the traditional classroom. By optimizing the existing infrastructure, strategic renovations can uphold the legacy of excellence and align our learning spaces with the high academic standard we hold ourselves to. Through responsible investment we can competitively equip our students with the facilities and resources they need for health and post- graduation success.

At the October 24, 2024 Board Meeting, the Board received a Concept Design Update from Brandy Fox (Owner Representative) on the proposed projects and a Bond Planning Update from Piper|Sandler.

The Concept Design Update included 3 videos the Board watched prior to the meeting: 

• IMS - Mithun
• MIHS - Mahlum
• Admin Bldg/Crest - Brandy Fox

OE-11, Facilities and Capital Assets, sets forth the School Board’s expectations and requirements of the Superintendent and includes the requirement for a Long-Range Facility Plan (LRFP) and its annual update.

It specifically requires the update to include the following:

• Capital Projects
• Enrollment
• Building Capacity and Utilization

Long-Range Facilities Plan 2024-25 Annual Update – presented to the Board on September 26, 2024

Long-Range Facilities Plan 2024-25 Annual Update Presentation Slides – presented to the Board on September 26, 2024

Long-Range Facilities Plan 2023-24 Update

Yes. In 2019 the process started with the Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) meeting. With the onset of Covid there was a delay in the work of the FPC. 

The District started the process of updating the Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP) in the spring 2023 with a series of five meetings.  

Over the 5 meetings LRFP Committee developed recommendations for future improvements to our schools which were shared with Board at the August 24, 2023 meeting. After the August 24 Board meeting the LRFP Committee met a single time in September.  

The District held three Community Engagement Sessions in October 2023 to solicit additional input from the community to help further shape the recommendations. As part of the sessions a survey was conducted to gather feedback from the community on the LRFP. 

The Board held a Study Session on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 on the LRFP.

At the Board Meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2023 the Board removed consolidation of a elementary school as a variable from the LRFP.

At the Board Meeting on Thursday, November 9, 2023 the Board formalized there would be no consolidation of an elementary school.

Phase 2 of the LRFP started on Monday, November 13 when the Long Range Facility Plan Committee reconvened for a single meeting.

Development of the LRFP was presented to the Board in January of 2024.

Design and permitting will occur in 2025 and 2026, with construction anticipated to start during the spring/summer of 2027 and continue through 2028.

The projects will comply with WSSP, the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol, which is modeled off LEED but does not require the extensive documentation or agency certification (saving significant cost).  In addition, IMS will use a hybrid mass timber structure, include tree wells in the courtyard for stormwater management, and add cooling to all classrooms.  The district will create spaces that energize and sustain student well-being and promote biophilic design principles to connect students to the natural environment

School districts must provide the vast majority of financial resources to fund construction, replace, renovate, or build new schools through voter-approved bonds.  The state typically allocates limited funds to assist with the costs, but only if the district is funding the project with local resources, predominantly through voter approved measures. These limited funds from the state do not become available to districts until the construction project is completed, or nearly completed. The district may be eligible for up to $4M in matching funds for the IMS project only.  The district will diligently pursue all funding options with the state and apply those funds to paydown the bond debt early.

Each project will be a little different.  Before any construction can occur, we must engage with the architect/contractor partners (advertise, interview, etc.), design the improvements, create permit documents, and obtain permits through the City of Mercer Island.  A summary is included below for each project:

IMS

• 2025 design/construction partners in place, start design work
• 2026 design & permit documents
• Permitting would occur from mid-2026 to mid-2027
• Construction would occur from summer 2027 through summer 2028

MIHS

• 2025 design/construction partners in place, start design work
• 2026 design & permit documents
• The construction schedule at the High School will be greatly shaped to limit impact on the learning environment and school operation.  Classrooms may be a summer focus in 2026, 2027, and 2028, but small groups of classrooms may be able to be updated during the year.  For projects like the PAC, Stadium Restrooms, Gym, and Commons, the District will need to work closely with their design and construction partners to schedule the work with the least possible impact to the school operations, performance, and sports.  Given the size and scope of the various projects, construction could take place during the summers of 2026, 2027, and 2028 as well as the school years between.

Administration Building - Design in 2025 and early 2026
ADA - Permitting 2026. Construction may be able to start in the summer of 2026 and go through 2027.  Elevator lead times may dictate the work schedule.

MISD updated our Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP) during the 2023-24 school year. During this update process the School Board heard overwhelmingly from the community that there was no appetite for consolidating from four to three elementary schools. The request of the community was to focus on MIHS and IMS, allow enrollment to stabilize post Covid, keep four small neighborhood schools, and address elementary schools in a future bond.

The District’s initial focus will be to get the three projects noted above designed and in for permitting.  Once that is complete, the District would engage with the architect and community on the Elementary Study.  We could begin this work in the fall of 2026, or push it into 2027/28 as preparation for a future bond.  The work is expected to take a full year. The first though VERY preliminary opportunity identified with the Board, that does not conflict with the EP&O Levy, the Cap/Tech Levy, or a general election would be 2029-2030 for a second Bond request.