Frequently Asked Questions

Student and Classroom Technology: The majority of the Capital Levy funding would ensure our students have the technology they need in and out of the classroom, including guaranteed and reliable access to standard equipment in the classroom for all students. Funding would ensure all schools and classrooms have equitably updated technology, including designated laptop devices for students in grades 3-12 and small group access to laptops for students in kindergarten through second grade.

Maintaining our Buildings: The Capital Levy would also help complete critical repairs to our schools, such as HVAC and roof repairs, with a focus on safety, as part of a regular maintenance schedule.

Ensuring Our Students Have Room to Learn: The Capital Levy would help the district finalize building a fourth comprehensive high school to reduce overcrowding in our growing district. While overall enrollment dipped during the pandemic, enrollment in grades 9-12 is now higher than pre-pandemic levels. Our existing high schools continue to be over capacity.

The replacement Capital (Technology and Construction) Levy would cost an estimated $0.73 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2023, $0.81 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2024, $0.78 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2025, and $0.75 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2026.

Yes. Although Issaquah has not historically used capital levies to fund construction, many of our neighboring school districts use this method regularly.

Yes. Enrollment at our high schools is stable and, in fact, has increased, as shown in the below chart.

Prop. 2, the Renewal Capital (Construction & Technology) Levy, includes funds to ensure students have room to learn at all of our comprehensive high schools. Levy funding would help complete the construction of a fourth comprehensive high school, which is still needed to reduce overcrowding.

*In the graph, AAFTE stands for Average Annual Full-Time Equivalent

The high school is one piece of the $533.5 million construction bond measure approved by voters in 2016. That package included plans to build a sixth middle school and two new elementary schools. It also funded the rebuild of Pine Lake Middle School, and the critical expansion and modernization of Beaver Lake Middle School and six elementary schools.  Most of the bond projects have now been completed except for the fourth high school and the 17th elementary school, two projects that have been severely impacted by challenges such as delays during the permitting process, changes in code requirements, supply chain issues, pandemic-related problems, and substantial inflation to the costs.  

Read more about completed bond projects on our Capital Projects page.

Other updates are available here:
Nov. 24, 2021: District Officials Announce Delay of Elementary 17, Funding Needs of High School 4

April 1, 2022: 2016 Bond Projects Come to Fruition: Cougar Mountain Middle School Opens, High School 4 on the Horizon

The address of High School 4 will be 4200 228th Ave. S.E., Issaquah, WA 98029, where Providence Heights College and City Church were formerly located. 

In 2012, King County land use policies were changed to prohibit the siting of new schools outside of the urban growth boundary (UGA). These changes eliminated our district’s ability to use a land banked 80-acre site located outside of the UGA.

The district’s school boundaries include the entirety of the City of Issaquah, portions of the cities of Bellevue, Newcastle, Renton, and Sammamish, and portions of unincorporated King County. The district’s 110 square mile boundaries include areas both within and outside of the UGA boundaries, with the majority of that land (approximately 70 percent) located outside of the UGA boundary.

The district reviewed 69 separate parcels of publicly and privately owned property located within the UGA. Many potential sites were eliminated due to critical area limitations, topography concerns, access restrictions, public land restrictions, and/or locations in areas far from student populations.

The property located at 4200 228th Ave. SE, Issaquah, WA 98029 was the only site identified in the district’s six-year search of properties in the UGA and across the district as suitable for the new high school and elementary school in terms of developable land availability and student location.

The property is considered ideal for public school campus use because it includes 40 usable acres, and is located in the center of the district’s growth area. It is also situated between Skyline High School and Issaquah High School (which would allow the district to alleviate capacity constraints at both of those schools) and allows for shared use of facilities between schools.

The original site plan for the property included landscape buffers that met the minimum code requirements with grading and walls to the extent of the allowed setbacks. Based in part on public concerns regarding the potential for impacts to adjacent properties and uses, the site plan was revised to: 

• Include larger landscape buffers around the perimeter and the preservation of a greater number of native trees.
• Move the baseball and softball fields were further from the property lines to reduce noise impacts to neighboring properties.
• Move the tennis courts were closer to 228th Avenue SE, reducing lighting impacts to adjacent residential properties.
• Provide an average 60-foot vegetated buffer along all shared property lines between the site and the neighboring residential properties.
• Design student drop-off/pick-up to function entirely on site to avoid backups onto 228th Avenue SE.
• Locate the multipurpose turf playfield with covered grandstand in the center of the site with its orientation toward 228th Avenue SE and away from neighboring residential properties.
• Increase the size of the parking garage to minimize surface parking.
• Increase the amount of retaining walls to save mature trees.
• Move the site for Elementary School 17, which is currently on hold, 60 feet closer to 228th Avenue. 

Read more about the stormwater system, the project's embodied carbon and other measures regarding sustainable practices here.

The move from our Holly Street Campus to a Central Administration Building in an office park benefits student learning, the community, and central office workers. Due to King County land use policies including the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), approximately 70 percent of the land contained within our district boundaries is not buildable and/or useable land for school buildings. With the move, our district was able to gain an additional property where the land is buildable, usable, and hence suitable for students by converting the old administration building into a property where students learn (Holly Street Early Learning Center). The move also benefits the community as it has created a central location within the district for professional development and community events such as the recent vaccine clinics.  Finally, moving central office administration to an office park allowed the district to consolidate leadership and business office staff into one location. Some staff members were previously housed throughout the district. Moving these employees to a central location freed up space in our school buildings for students.