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Eagle Point school board will ask for $33.9 million measure from voters By Vicki Guarino EAGLE POINT � The school board made it official Wednesday: Voters will be asked in November to approve a $33.9 million bond measure for new schools. The board formally adopted a resolution to seek tax-supported financing to build four new schools and enlarge another. The plan is seen as a way to resolve existing shortcomings in three communities served by the district and accommodate projected growth. The bond measure will go on the Nov. 7 general election. The building plan includes construction of one elementary school and three middle schools and a major instructional change to create a middle school system for grades sixth through eighth. Sixth-graders now attend elementary schools, and seventh- and eighth-graders are enrolled in the junior high. Many educators favor the middle school setup, saying it works better for those students. Central Point schools switched to a middle school arrangement several years ago and officials have been pleased with the outcome. Medford officials want to make the same switch for academic reasons and are including a study of middle schools in preparation for a possible future bond measure. In Eagle Point�s proposal, middle schools would be built in White City, Eagle Point and Shady Cove, serving a total of just over 900 students. The junior high, which has significant structural problems, would be torn down to make way for the new Eagle Point middle school. Engineers and building inspectors have condemned portions of the junior high and have warned district officials that repairs would be prohibitively expensive. The school is a collection of buildings moved from World War II-era Camp White. In Shady Cove, the present Upper Rogue Middle School is housed in portable classrooms at the Shady Cove School. Those rooms would be replaced with a permanent and larger facility. White City currently has two elementary schools serving grades kindergarten through sixth. The new elementary school included in the bond proposal would serve 300-350 students in the fast-growing Eagle Point area and compensate for the portable rooms that will removed from school grounds in Eagle Point. Also in the elementary grades, new classrooms will be built at White City�s Mountain View Elementary School to make up for space lost when portable rooms are removed. The Eagle Point district has about 4,000 students enrolled in schools in White City, Eagle Point, Shady Cove and Trail. Enrollment is expected to grow by about 1,400 in the next 10 years. The November bond vote will be the first in 26 years for school construction. In 1974, the district won approval for construction of the high school. Now, the high school is reaching capacity but is not expected to need bond-financed expansion. The citizens committee that proposed the bond measure agreed that operational changes at the high school could increase the building�s efficiency. If necessary, portable classrooms also could be used. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA