While voters in the Oak Harbor School District are mailing their absentee ballots concerning November’s bond election to fund new athletic facilities, work continues on a bond proposal that voters will consider next spring.

The spring bond proposal would fund renovation of Oak Harbor High School. School officials are looking at a proposal that would renovate buildings that were built in 1972 and in 1991. The plan includes replacing the heating and cooling systems, plumbing, electrical and roofing systems to ensure compliance with current codes.

Superintendent Rick Schulte said details aren’t yet available on what kind of bond the school district will present to voters.

“We haven’t made a decision on that yet,” Schulte said, adding a decision on the bond cost, and exactly when to run it, should be made in December.

Preliminary numbers put the cost of the high school renovation at an estimated $65 million, which would be divided into a nearly $49 million bond and $16 million in state matching money. Schulte said those numbers will change as officials meet with engineers to get a more accurate cost estimate.

In order to gain broader input, the school district is holding several public meetings in November. Rather than having the hearings at the Administrative Service Center, the meetings will be out in the community.

“There’s a lot of value taking these meetings to the public,” said school board member David McCool during the Monday evening board meeting.

The next high school remodel bond will likely cost more than the one the school district ran unsuccessfully in 2003. Even then, the proposed bond would pay for a lot less than the $45 million bond voters rejected.

If the 2003 proposal ran today, including a high school stadium and performing arts center, voters would be facing a $65.58 million bond to cover the same projects, as inflation has taken a toll.

The $6.5 million Nov. 8 bond election will take care of the stadium issue if voters support it.

Schulte said the new remodel proposal doesn’t include a performing arts center or replacement of the C and D wings. Instead, those wings would be renovated.

“In order to cut costs, you have to cut something significant,” Schulte said.

He said costs have been increasing because of higher than anticipated construction inflation. When the cost for the previous bond was calculated in 2001, officials factored in an inflation rate between 3 percent and 4 percent. Schulte said the rate was 11 percent this year and estimated that it would be 8 percent in the next two years.

He said estimates don’t include the effects of the hurricanes that have devastated the Gulf Coast. The raw materials needed for the rebuilding efforts could increase prices on a local level.

The Coupeville School District ran into a similar problem last year after voters approved a $22.8 million bond to pay for construction of a new high school. Plans were altered when cost estimates showed construction would be millions of dollars over budget. To fix the problem, the Coupeville School Board slightly reduced the size of the high school and delayed several projects until state matching money is available.