The Lewiston school board passed a resolution Nov. 15, 2016, which will move a $59.8 million bond to a community vote March 14. The bond includes the construction of a new high school to include a career technical center, auditorium and gymnasium.
    “People have supportive comments — probably the only thing that I’ve heard on the negative side is that we don’t want our taxes to go up, or we don’t want to pay for that, and I’m not insensitive to that” said Dr.Donaldson, Lewiston superintendent,” …. But I want to make sure people know exactly how much  it’s going to cost.”
According to tax policies, Donaldson said, if the bond passes the average homeowner in Lewiston will be taxed  $8-10 a month.
“I know for some that could be a challenge, but we really did try the other way with upping local sales tax,” said Donaldson. “Two years running we tried to go that way, but that wasn’t going anywhere, so we hope people understand we did look at other options.”
However, the new school project and its proposed bond still have community opponents, such as Taxpayers Against Unfair Taxation.
According to schoolbondcents.com, TAUT seeks school funding options beyond taxing, possibly through fundraising and grants, in order to renovate the existing campus rather than building new.
    Four things make this bond different than the ones on ballot in the past, Donaldson said.  The first new addition consists of career technical education as the centerpiece, with LHS partnering with LCSC to achieve this. Secondly is the  clear plan for the old high school campus. The new bond also has a 5-year plan to fund creation of sports and competition venues. Lastly, the construction management model would leave room for local contractors to bid to work on parts of the project.
    Donaldson and the Yes LHS campaign crew are holding small group meetings and open house events to educate about the bond. vents include cottage meetings, Bagels with Bob (“Which I did not coin,” said Donaldson.), and reaching out to small groups in the community that are interested in the project.
The campaign crew will hold an open house for anyone in search of further information from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 1 at the LCSC Williams Conference Center.
    “In the long run, everything we are doing is for the students. Everything we talk about is to benefit the students,” said Donaldson.