Hundreds gathered at Tahoma High’s gym Thursday night for a community rally in support of a construction bond measure on the April 26 ballot.

Brett Habenicht, who emceed the event with Denny Pierre, explained to the crowd the rally was meant to be a starting point.

“Your job is to share this information with your friends, your neighbors,” Habenicht said. “Go out and make this great argument for why we need this bond measure.”

Tahoma School District employee and renowned Elvis tribute artist Steve Sogura performed as did a string quintet from the Maple Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, the high school’s jazz band and jazz choir. In addition, information was provided by speakers including district superintendent Mike Maryanski and Tahoma Junior High principal Rob Morrow.

The district is seeking approval of a $125 million bond measure that would pay for a number of projects including building a new Lake Wilderness Elementary, a fifth elementary school, additional classroom space at Tahoma High as well as an auditorium that would be used as a lecture hall and performing arts space and significant maintenance at a number of buildings in the school district among other projects.

If the bond is approved, according to information provided by the school district, Tahoma is eligible for $26.4 million matching funds from the state school construction fund, but it is unclear if that money will be available to the district due to a state budget crunch.

The average tax rate for 2012 through 2016, based on current conditions, would be $1.41 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. This would translate to $33 a month or $423 per year for someone with a home valued at $300,000.

Maryanski said that Tahoma is a great school district and people move to Maple Valley because of the district’s reputation.

He noted that Tahoma’s classrooms are crowded and current growth projections show an additional 1,700 students will be coming into the school district during the next nine years.

“We’re pretty full right now,” Maryanski said. “We’re also putting adults and young people in spaces that were designed to be classrooms. We have an over-reliance on portables. They aren’t a quality learning environment for adults or young people.”

Tahoma students learn in portables that students and staff described as smelly, not well heated, and generally uncomfortable. Some portables were purchased more than 20 years ago when the Kent School District surplused them. At least 25 percent of students spend at least a portion of their day in a portable.

Though portables do add classroom space it doesn’t address the need more students create for additional bathrooms, locker rooms, common areas and so forth.

At Cedar River Middle School, for example, principal Mark Koch explained in a video, there isn’t enough space in the lunchroom now for all the students so the staff has moved a handful of lunch tables to the courtyard where about 25 or 30 students eat daily regardless of the weather.

Tahoma Junior High is projected to exceed its capacity by 2014 while elementary schools are expected to max out in October 2015.

“We need the support of our community at this point in time,” Maryanski said. “We don’t want to have the journey that we’re on to be disrupted. We want quality schools. We need to convince (the community) that it’s a great place… so we can continue that journey.”

Rob Morrow, principal of Tahoma Junior High, explained what would happen if the bond measure does not pass.

One option would be to set up a multi-track system where about 25 percent of students and staff would not be in school for about nine weeks at a time, thus creating a year-round school schedule.

This would make it difficult, Morrow said, for students to have access to all the classes they want particularly those such as advanced placement or honors classes that don’t have multiple sections offered.

Another possibility would be a double session schedule where one group of students would start early in the morning, Morrow explained, and the second group would start around 1 p.m. and wrap up after 7 p.m.

That kind of schedule would also impact community groups who use the junior high for evening programs because it would reduce availability for those organizations.

“There are serious consequences to not passing the bond,” Morrow said.

Tahoma last passed a construction bond in 1997, which generated about $45.5 million in revenue plus an addition $30 million in state matching grants, and was spent over the course eight years with the money used to remodel Tahoma High and build Tahoma Junior High, among other projects.

Jim Flynn, who served on a citizen oversight committee that helped guide the spending of that last bond measure, said the district board of directors and administrative staff made sure bond money was well spent and he has confidence that will happen in the future.

Scott Serpa, director of coaching for Maple Valley Youth Soccer Association, described the importance of the partnership the organization has with the school district.

“What the school district does for us, providing facilities, not just for us but for many youth programs… without them we wouldn’t exist,” Serpa said. “This school, it is the hub, the center piece of what we do. This (bond measure) has a huge impact on our kids and our future. The money part, you get a return on your investment down the road.”

Maple Valley Mayor Noel Gerken noted that his family settled here 14 years ago in large part because of the school district.

“Both the city and the school district face challenges,” Gerken said. “But both are committed to providing the best services we can with what we have. I ask you to be an informed voter in April. Providing a quality education doesn’t just happen. It takes commitment and investment and I know you’re up to it.”

More information can be found on the Voice of Tahoma Education committee’s website www.tahomavote.org.