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Eagle Point school officials push $33 million proposal By Vicki Guarino EAGLE POINT -- School officials are proceeding with a $33 million plan to build four new schools and renovate others. Financing for the project is expected to go to voters in November. The Eagle Point School Board this week asked administrators to write the resolutions to put the plan on the ballot, district finance director Mark Sorensen said Friday. Also, the board appointed former Jackson County Sheriff C.W. Smith, Eagle Point, to head up a committee to campaign for passage of the measure. Smith, who recently retired as Talent's police chief, has a daughter at Eagle Point High School. School board Chairman Alan Curriston said the board asked Smith to volunteer because of his political experience and knowledge of the community. Curriston said Smith is expected to start organizing a team of volunteers. "They've got a lot of work to do," Curriston said. "They've got to go out there and beat the bushes and get everything done." The bond proposal was produced by a community group that spent months studying the district's needs. The committee found school building problems across the four communities the district covers. Some problems have been deemed so serious that engineers are advising that structures be torn down and built anew. Other schools are overcrowded and unprepared for future growth in the fast-developing communities. "It's something that really needs to be done," said committee member Cheryl Stout, a former school board member. "The growth in Eagle Point and White City is just phenomenal and it's not going to stop." And it has been many years since the district has undertaken a major construction project -- least of all, one at tax-payer expense. The last time the district sought tax support for construction was in 1974, when voters backed construction of Eagle Point High School. The most recent building projects, including the small school in Lake Creek that opened this year, were financed from combinations of loans, grants and special funds. Large-scale projects were sidestepped. District officials resorted to small, temporary measures such as portable classrooms. Now those measures are aging and aren't sufficient to meet student demands, the building committee concluded after several months of study. The $33 million would pay for: An elementary school for 300-350 students, with removal of portable classrooms at Glenn D. Hale, Little Butte and Mountain View elementary schools; $7 million estimated cost. Three middle schools -- in White City, Eagle Point and Shady Cove -- with demolition of the present Eagle Point Junior High; estimated cost is $1 million in Shady Cove, and $9 million each for larger schools in White City and Eagle Point. A new gym at the high school to relieve scheduling delays due to overcrowding; $2 million. Additional permanent classrooms at Mountain View, White City; $2 million. Improvements for fire safety, electrical upgrades, plumbing repairs and other improvements; about $2.4 million. Financing and bond costs, $600,000. In a telephone survey in conjunction with the building study, more than half of those questioned said they would vote for the bond measure for those projects. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA