Toledo School District Answers Questions About Levy Proposal to Fund Stadium Upgrades

Posted

In 2018, a supermajority of Toledo voters agreed to pay a $7 million bond to fund construction of a new high school. 

Now, in 2023, some of those voters are confused as to why the district is asking voters for more money, this time to complete the high school’s stadium. 

“Some are having a really hard time understanding … the idea that we saved $1.75 million on the high school project and we’re using that money to make bond payments,” said Toledo Superintendent Chris Rust. “Nobody’s going to have to pay anything for the high school for three or four years.” 

The Toledo School District saved a total of $2 million on the new Toledo High School thanks to some unexpected state funding and cost savings during construction, according to previous Chronicle reporting. Of that $2 million savings, the district set $300,000 aside for some unexpected but needed additions to the new high school, including a 50-space overflow parking lot and an additional trophy case.

The remaining $1.75 million went into the school district’s bond debt payment fund and covers the district’s bond payments through December 2026. 

“The thought was that while we have this tax holiday, that this would be a good time to go ahead and do the stadium,” Rust said. 

To address some of its constituency’s concerns around the proposed three-year capital levy appearing on the Feb. 14 ballot, the Toledo School District hosted a free community dinner on Saturday, which included a question and answer session on the levy proposal and a tour of the district’s stadium. 

As a capital levy, the measure would require a simple majority of 50% of the vote plus one to pass. 

If the levy is approved, the district would collect $3.1 million over the course of three years, starting in 2024, to fund the installation of concessions, restrooms, grandstand storage space and a new rubberized track and field facility at Toledo High School’s stadium.

The stadium hasn’t had any significant upgrades since it was built in 1996, according to Rust. 

Volunteers put in the dirt ring around Ted Hippi Field that serves as the track, and an investment bond funded the purchase of the grandstands and the lights. 

“The community has never been asked to spend a nickel on that stadium,” Rust said. “This is the first time the community’s been asked to do anything to improve that facility.” 

And, according to the district, improvements are long overdue. The dirt ring is frequently the cause of shin splints and other injuries for Toledo’s track athletes, to the point where the track team frequently rents space out at other facilities to train. The grandstands are serviceable enough, but aren’t accessible to wheelchairs, are uncovered and lack storage space. There is no proper concession stand, without on site restrooms, the school brings in portable toilets. 



“I just don’t like the idea of senior citizens coming to watch the grandkids play and having to use portable toilets,” Rust said. 

Aside from the cost concerns, Rust said the Toledo School District has generally received positive feedback from the community on the proposed improvements to the stadium.

It was community feedback at a meeting in June 2022 that prompted the Toledo School Board to develop the levy proposal in the first place, Rust said. 

That meeting had originally been called to announce the $2 million savings on the high school, but turned into a community discussion on the need to update the stadium. 

“It was pretty clear that people wanted us to finish the stadium,” Rust said. “So the board authorized some money to be spent for some preliminary drawings.” 

The district ultimately hired the architects who designed the new Toledo High School to design a new concession stand and restroom building “because we wanted it all to follow the same designs and have it look similar,” Rust said. 

After three or four board meetings of back-and-forth discussion with the architects, the school board approved the proposed design and voted to put a levy proposal on the February ballot. 

“A ton of people … really see this as an opportunity to finally do this and see this as kind of the last best opportunity to get this (done),” Rust said. 

Once the tax break on the bond ends at the start of 2027, Toledo taxpayers will resume payments on the $5.25 million amount, which will take at least 10 years to pay off at the voter-approved rate of 76 cents or less per $1,000. 

The full ballot measure is accessible online at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/current-election/. 

The Toledo School District has information about the levy proposal available on its website at https://toledoschools.us/capital-levy-2023.html.