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District wants school bond vote Central Point board expresses a dire need for schools, classrooms By VICKI GUARINO CENTRAL POINT -- Facing a continuing need for new schools and more classrooms, the school board is taking preliminary steps toward another bond vote in the next general election. This time, vowed board chairwoman Cindy Tilley Faubion, the funding measure must pass at the polls. "We can't afford to have another bond issue fail," she said Monday. Twice, district voters have rejected a $37 million measure to build and add on to district schools. Two schools built about 90 years ago, Central Point Elementary and Hanby Middle School in Gold Hill, are deteriorating and substandard. Crater High School is overcrowded and students are on waiting lists for classes. As the district grows and buildings age, the problems become more severe. This fall, the board has been holding regular discussion on the possibility of a third bond vote in November 2000. Board members are working toward decisions on whether a third financing measure should go to voters and, if so, how much money should the district seek. "We've just started talking," Faubion said. "We haven't come up with anything." The board is discussing the issue again during its meeting at 7:30 tonight at Central Point Elementary School, 450 S. Fourth St. The board will hold a work session with consultants on Dec. 14. A major issue for the board to settle is the size of the bond measure and the scope of the building project. In bond votes over the past few years, the district has asked voters to approve a sweeping plan of construction and renovation. Every school in the district would have received some attention, and three major building projects -- high school additions and replacements for the two aging schools -- would have been funded. In a third election, the board could scale back the funding request. Faubion said the board is being cautious about the scope of the project. A third bond measure might ask for less money than previous measures and, consequently, buy less in the way of new and refurbished schools. The scaled-back plan might be more palatable for voters. Faubion said some voters have complained that previous funding requests were simply too expensive. "We thought that what was being asked for was very, very fair," Faubion said of the board. A parent who headed previous bond election campaigns said the project still is fair. Janet Crawford said she hopes the school board will decide to stick to the original plan. She noted that in the last vote, the measure nearly passed, losing by some 200 out of about 5,000 votes cast. "And we have a lot of people now on the side of the school that we didn't before," Crawford said. Although she hopes the building plan remains intact, she will bow out of campaign leadership. "I want to stay involved," she said. "but they need some fresh blood, some fresh ideas." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA