Building A Brighter Future By Investing In Lynden Schools
EPISODE 6
We sat down with David VanderYacht, from the Lynden School District, to talk about what it looks like to build a brighter future in Lynden by investing in youth. We focus specifically on the upcoming projects they're hoping to begin as well as the long term benefits of building a new school.
In This Episode:
Intro to David VanderYacht and His Journey Through The World of Working in Education
About the Lynden Schools bond and levy
A Brief Overview of the State of Our Local School Buildings
The Benefits of Investing in Our Community’s Youth
The Projects Lynden Schools Hope to Begin Soon
Dollars and Cents: How Our Financial Investment is Calculated
Podcast Episode Transcription
Intro:
Welcome to the (un)covered Podcast, brought to you by Manna Insurance Group, where we pull back the curtain on the insurance industry and provide valuable insights, guidance, and truth so that you can make informed decisions when choosing the right insurance.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Hey everybody, this is Dan Vander Kooi with the (un)covered Podcast. I'm excited to have David VanderYacht here from Lynden School District. And today we're going to talk a little bit about something coming up on the ballot here in February, right David?
David VanderYacht:
We have a couple of things.
Dan Vander Kooi:
A couple of things. So David's currently the superintendent at Lynden School District and would love for you maybe just share a little bit. Who you are, your journey. We were joking earlier that you're first generation Lynden. You want to just share a little about your journey through the Lynden School District and community and that sort of thing?
David VanderYacht:
I'd love to. Hey, first I want to share appreciation for the opportunity. I just think an informed citizen is a citizen that contributes to a better community and opportunities like this are really important and just want to take advantage of it.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah, absolutely.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, first generation Lynden. My parents moved from Ferndale.
Dan Vander Kooi:
The rivalry.
David VanderYacht:
The Golden Eagles. Yeah. And then I just had the blessing of being raised in Lynden by people that invested in me and cared about me. And I was like a lot of Lynden kids, we couldn't wait to get out of Lynden. It was restricting and there was a whole world out there. And so a couple friends I went to school with and Shane Van Dalen and Cory White and Russ Martin, we all kind of ended up down in the Seattle area and did some community college stuff and sowed our oats and then started to realize that Lynden was a pretty nice place to be able to grow up and all four of us have ended up back here and served in roles in the community.
And I came back and was hired as a seventh grade teacher in 1992. Same year I married my wife, Vonda DeGroot VanderYacht, a '98 graduate. And so I was a 1986 graduate, Lynden High School, hired as a middle school teacher in '92. Taught for 10 years. Then I was assistant principal at Lynden Middle School for a couple of years and was hired to be the principal at Isom Elementary School and did that for 12. And then went to the district office, served as HR director of operations for six years, and now I'm completing my second year as superintendent. And so this is my 32nd year.
Dan Vander Kooi:
You've seen a ton of things over the course of those 32 years. Even I, I started, I coached high school baseball out at Nooksack. Let's see, I hired when I was 21, so I've been probably 2004, 2005, I was there five or six years. Even the group of guys I coached out there to my last stint when I was at LC for five or six years. Very different in I'd say facilities and how things were run, safety stuff, protocols the WIA put in place, and then even just the kids themselves and how they learn is a lot different from a technology standpoint, different things like that. And that's just as a coach. But I'm sure you've kind of seen the gamut of things then over those years and in different roles too, right?
David VanderYacht:
Oh, absolutely. And just to coach, I coached as well and started when I was 21.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Okay. Yes.
David VanderYacht:
And you see a lot, you learn a lot about young people when you coach, sometimes more so than when you're in the classroom as a teacher. That unstructured, you become pretty influential in a young person's lives. And I just had great coaches and it was a great experience. But yes, absolutely. I've seen change and I feel like I've been on a hamster wheel for 32 years as well. There's not a whole lot of reflection time that happens. It's a challenging profession. It's kind of constant. But yes, we've seen it. We've seen it in families as well, and our community's grown a lot in those 32 years. And at the same time, it's still the same in that we're investing in young people and what a blessing that is.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. I still remember my dad would always say, he goes, "I remember when the only stoplight in town was the one by Dairy Queen." It was like, even growing up, I still remember when that used to be pasture and stuff down there. So there has been a lot of change in our community.
David VanderYacht:
Dairy Queen went in when I was in high school.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yep. There you go.
David VanderYacht:
It opened up. Yeah, when I was a kid, we used to ride out where Edaleen is now, and that would turn into gravel road.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
Lots of change.
David VanderYacht:
Pretty cool. Pretty cool.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. So February we have a bond and a levy coming up and those are the technical terms. So there's a lot of people out there, I would say even including myself sometimes. Just not sure what all that looks like, what's involved, and maybe even start a little bit, what's the difference between the two, and then we can elaborate from there a little bit.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. Yeah, school funding can be complicated and there's a lot of it. And these are two funding sources for public entities, a levy and then a capital bond. And so a levy is more of a short-term funding source that fills the gap between what a community expects for their public school services and what the state identifies as basic education requirements. So we receive resources from the state and then individual communities vote on additional funding to supplement that state funding. And in our school district, and they're short-term usually, and in our school district, the local tax, the levy, represents about 14% of our operating budget annually. And that equates this year to about $8 million.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And so that kind of gets you over the hump from what the state gives you, maybe gets you over the hump, right?
David VanderYacht:
Yes. It's been challenging recently, but yes, that's the intent.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. Okay.
David VanderYacht:
It also presents an accountability piece for the community. It's short term, it's usually two years or four years. We have to go into an agreement with the community as this is how we're going to use these resources.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And when school districts abuse that and they don't align with the community, then there's a voting mechanism. And thankfully in this community for the last 40 years, it's passed the levy. And with those dollars, a couple big things are provided in this community. Extracurricular activities are funded through...
Dan Vander Kooi:
That's a big deal in this town.
David VanderYacht:
It's a little bit of a big deal in this town. Extracurricular activities are funded with local levies. A lot of our safety features are still funded with local levies. Schools used to not have, we had a nurse necessarily. We had a nurse in the whole school, but now there's an expectation that we have a medical professional within each area in which we're serving students. And so those are funded with local levy dollars. Counseling programs. We have a mental health coordinator in our school district. And so what we put out in the levy is, we will benefit from this additional funding and this is what we'll use those funds for. And that will be on the ballot again, because we have two levies that are expiring. In 2020, a pair of four year levies were passed by this community. One was a technology levy, technology and safety levy, and the other one was an operations levy.
Dan Vander Kooi:
So now that's going to expire.
David VanderYacht:
Yep.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And so you've maybe put some systems in place and operational things in place, whether it be personnel or software or systems. And so now you kind of have to take that again and be like, all right, we're going to maybe reevaluate this a little bit. Because even over, I mean even just in our own office here, we're constantly evaluating software. We were on a call this morning with a software company just revisiting, okay, what can you do now? And so probably reevaluating the systems you've put in place from that levy and how can we get better, but also what's new out there too that we should be implementing. And I think you hit on something too that I think is big being that I drop off three different kids every morning in three different buildings, is safety.
David VanderYacht:
And the state currently doesn't fund schools for the level of safety at what communities expect to have in place. And so that operating levy that's in place right now expires on December 31st of 2024, and so on the ballot is a replacement of those expiring levies. Which would then go in effect in 2025 for another four years. And so the levy on the ballot initiative is to replace expiring levies to continue basically the programs that we currently have in place. And we've been impacted by inflation like every other entity.
And so that's what a levy is and does. And a lot of times people think, well, they just keep coming back asking for money. Yes. Because that's the way the system is set up, is that there is an election of those levy dollars either 2, 3, 4 year, every 2, 3, 4 years, and we are at a time in which they're expiring. And so that's what a levy does.
A bond is different. A bond is an investment by a community into the capital project, into the capital of the organization. And so cities do this, public schools do this. It is a long-term investment. We go out to the voters and say, we have these projects that need to be completed, and then if approved, it requires 60% approval because it is a new tax. If it gets approved, then investors will provide us the capital to be able to complete the major project. And then through the approval of the bond, then we would pay back those investors with some interest over 20, 21, 22 years. And that's the difference, a long-term investment versus operating costs through that. So levy is replacement. This bond will be a new tax.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. Let's start with a bond, cause that's a really big deal. Because I think one of the things, and we talked even about in the levy, the safety side, but there are things built into a capital project that can really affect safety. And I'll be really transparent. My kids go to Lynden Christian, right? But I think I've seen what Lynden School District has done with what they've had and they've gone above and beyond so far. So kudos to you and your team.
David VanderYacht:
I appreciate you recognizing that.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Because I think, we were talking earlier, I got, the gym usage is off the charts. There's a lack of gyms in the community, whether it's for volleyball or basketball or something else. And we go use Vossbeck every week and we use that gym. And there's other...
So recognizing that Mike McKee does a really good job scheduling all that and working through that. And that doesn't come without challenges, I'm sure, but saying, "Hey, we want our buildings to be used." Because otherwise they just sit there and that's what community's about.
So this bond investing into, the big chunk of it is I look through some different resources, and we will make sure on this too, to tag where the link to where you guys can all go find out more information about the bond and the levy going on and some of the plans. But as I look through some of this, the Lynden High School portion is basically a whole new high school.
David VanderYacht:
It is.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And some facilities. That's about 130 million. You have Isom and Vossbeck with some updates about 26 million, and then some stuff to Fisher and Lynden for HVAC things and different things like that for just under 2 million. So it's a big tag, but when you actually look at what's going on and you look at the usage, you're going to get out of it. And then you take in the safety side of things. I've done my homework a little bit, but again, you've seen it over the last 32 years, how we've grown. Tell us why the need, what's the why behind it?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. I appreciate you sharing those things. And I think the why is really important because I think what is clear is the expense of construction now and in construction of a government entity, it becomes pretty impactful to a community. And this is a very, very large investment into the community. So the why becomes really important.
First of all, Lynden High School was kind of scheduled to be this process of starting to look at what are we going to do around Lynden High School about when high school started prior to Covid. And then with the Covid mess, which was probably another podcast, basically, that's partly why I ended up in the role that I'm in. It just felt like it needed somebody like myself who's pretty connected to bring people together around the needs of our community.
And so the revisit of the high school was one of those things. And so we started with a citizen's committee to review all the work of the previous groups, and then that resulted in two more citizen's committee and out of that, it was good for me too, because an educator, I'm not a builder. I'm like a lot of educators, give me the kids and stay out of my way.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
Right?
Dan Vander Kooi:
I want to love on...
David VanderYacht:
I don't need the best field. I don't need the best classroom, give the kids, make sure they're fed, you know? I'm going invest into them. And now I found myself in a role that I have a different role.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And that's probably hard sometimes too, be on the administrator side. I have friends that have been in the classroom and then they've maybe moved to a more admin type position in the athletic department or assistant principal, things like that. And they like what they're doing, but it's just different. And they sometimes just, they kind of miss that genuine... Even as a youth pastor for 10 years, junior high kids were my favorite. We rented the Isom Middle School gym every Wednesday night. I think you were a principal there at the time.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. You had to keep that pizza out of there.
Dan Vander Kooi:
I had to keep the pizza out of there. We did ice cream troughs in a gutter from Edaleen, and the kids would all eat it, and we'd have to do it outside because we made a mess one time. But yeah, sometimes you just miss connecting with those kids and being hands-on with that too. But this is a different way that maybe the Lord calls different people to investing in their community and kids in a different way now right?
David VanderYacht:
And the reason I share that is I've always been a really collaborative person. I just want to bring people. And when you're in my role, then people think, "Oh, the superintendent wants a new high school," and "Oh, it's going to be a fight." No, I want the community to try to make some decisions long-term for the next generation. That really is my motivation. And we're blessed to bring great people together from representing different groups and different backgrounds.
And what surfaced out of that in terms of the why is that this community has always placed such a high value on its youth, its children. And that's never really ever been questioned.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And when we brought these people together, we were talking about safety of Lynden High School, the environment that's beyond just the gymnasium. And we brought people there and it was clear that this did not line up with the value that this community places on its young people.
And I got to be careful here not to be too negative about people who came before me, but the reality of the late seventies and early eighties, was there were some new products coming on board. We're trying to do things as least expensive as possible. In this community that's a value. But at the same time, when that happens, that means the longevity of those things aren't quite as strong.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Absolutely.
David VanderYacht:
So we took this model that basically designed a set of classrooms, and we had a plot of land and how many of these can we place, right? Least expensive way to build. And we resulted in a campus that isn't necessarily set up to serve the students in a way that aligns with the value that our community places on them. And it's pretty clear when you get past the gymnasium, that that is the case. And so that's probably the strongest why.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
The next one is, and these all are kind of interconnected, but I think we've learned, and adults have learned, and it's the same for children, that connection and community is really the thing that provides safety, that emotional safety for students. And we have a campus there that is kind of a... It separates people, it separates them out into pods and into different groups. If a student wants to hide and not be seen, they have plenty of places to be able to do that in that environment.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And our new modern schools have these common areas where everybody is together. You can see each other, you can see other... Adults can see each other. Adults can see students. We can invest in young people. And so that ability to create community and connection surfaced as a real strong, a strong why. It stands on the shoulders of we need to provide a safe and secure environment for our students as we possibly can. That school was not built with a concern for safety of students.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Well, and you can see that once you get past that, like you said, once you get past the gym, and I spent a lot of time back as a youth pastor, I'd pop by during lunch breaks and see kids, or they're going to ball games and things like that. Yeah, there's all those. You're walking outdoors to different spots and things like that in our beautiful December, January weather. But you're right, kids can get lost in that.
And I would even say too, now we live in a time where we're probably more connected, I'll say connected with air quotes, than ever, but we're really disconnected. There's a mental health guy that Dave Ramsey has as one of his personalities, Dr. John Delony. I don't know if you have ever seen any of his stuff. He's phenomenal. He says, "We live in a society where we have more friends on social media than ever, but no one that we're willing more comfortable..." Let me say that again. "We live in a society where we have more friends on social media, but no friend that we're willing to call and say, "Hey, can you help me move this couch?""
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, correct.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And then you start to walk around a campus, we have these things and there's kids just doing this. I mean, I had a podcast earlier, a state troopers said 90% of accidents could be prevented due to distracted driving and tailgating, and it's become an addiction. And so if there's a way...
David VanderYacht:
And not just for kids.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Exactly. Exactly. Not just kids.
David VanderYacht:
But they're going to follow the lead of the adults.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. So how do we start to try to create that community even within our schools and then the classrooms and kind of break it down? And even it sounds like some of the studies done, even the structures, how they're built and wired play a role in that.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. Modern school is built in the last 10, 12 years are very different than what we have, and they are intended to serve the students and align with what they need. I think industry also is demanding. There's just opportunity in the non-academics in terms of skills and trades. And so a project like this presents a great opportunity in a community like this. It would be probably another major why.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And we were able to build a biotech lab with some seed money from a donor and then the last bond that we had. And so now we have a two classroom biotech lab that is really, really nice and cool, but it serves 40 students a day and we have 900 students that attend Lynden High School. And so we see what the opportunity is to partnering with community industry as well.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Well, I think that's a big deal. I'm a big Mike Rowe guy, and for a long time I feel like education has pushed just four year, four year, four year. And there's a lot of kids that just want to work with their hands and the apprenticeship opportunities and I mean, I have a couple electrical, different companies would always call me when I was still coaching. They'd be like, "Hey, what senior do you have that likes to work with his hands? That works hard at practice and stuff. Can you send him our way? And they'll do some ride alongs." I'm like yeah, I kind of like this. And I got two or three guys that I've had work on my place now that are an electrician or things like that. And it's kind of fun to see them come back and do a good job, and they've jumped right into it. They don't have debt, they don't have...
So every kid's different. And what every kid wants to do and where they want to go in life is different. It might require a four-year degree, but it might just need to be an apprenticeship or things like that. So I think those CTE programs are pretty critical, and I think we're seeing that pendulum swing back a little bit towards that.
David VanderYacht:
We definitely are.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, no question.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. So what, you talk about the high school, what are some of the actual physical issues there right now when you get into it and... The building itself, but then also the campus and the athletic facilities, the gym, the cafeteria. Can you give a breakdown of what's going on there and...?
David VanderYacht:
In terms of what the plans would be around that.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah, Maybe what some of the plans would be, and then the why behind those plans and fixing.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, so we did the review of what a renovation would do. You invest money, and if we talk about Vossbeck and Isom, I'll talk a little bit about decision to renovate there. At the high school that was reviewed by two outside agencies, what it would take in order to upgrade to include maybe a commons area. And that was about it, right?
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
You'd still be left with the same structure of a school. You may be able to put in an entry, add a commons, you may be able to add some building onto the property, but you'd be left with a core that was designed to function in California. And then a number of our boiler system runs water through our entire ceiling. Those sealants are starting to come apart. All our plumbing is underground. All these different things that come up that were built in the late 1970s.
And so what would happen would be that there would be a comprehensive new two-story or three-story high school heading out south from the current school. So there's a JV baseball field that would be there. That's where you would see a major academic structure that would take place. We would then look at, and then purpose-built spaces for the trades career and technical education, skills and trades. Not sure exactly where those locations would be, but we do have an active farm on that property, a barn on that property down the deep left field line.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yep, yep.
David VanderYacht:
And so building maybe some of the AG sciences that are out in that area that can serve current industry with higher technology.
Dan Vander Kooi:
So would you be able to start to do that and build that wing education stuff and then still keep operating? Cause I imagine if you were renovating, that would be really hard too.
David VanderYacht:
Then that was part of the cost and the challenge. It's basically a four-year disruption to an entire student's high school career would be under construction and in portables basically.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah, that's tough.
David VanderYacht:
So yes, so that would be constructed. Ferndale did something very similar. That would be constructed. There may be some use of the current school post-completion. But the idea would be then that would be demolished and used for parking in the core kind of academic area spots. The gymnasium is not scheduled for demolition. We think it has size. It serves the community. I know there'd be a great interest in maintaining the seating limits.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. I heard an interesting statistic about that. Is it, correct me if I'm wrong, the largest wooden bleacher venue west of the Mississippi.
David VanderYacht:
I've heard that. I've heard that as well.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Okay.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, I've heard that as well.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Okay. That's kind of a cool deal.
David VanderYacht:
It is kind of a cool deal. I've taken pictures of the placard and I was in Newport, Oregon, my kid's college, and the same company made their bleachers. Because I know what would happen if we did major upgrades. We would want to do some ADA upgrades as well, but I don't think we'd be able to replace those wood bleachers. And so how do we move forward without changing that environment from what it is? Cause I do think it serves the community really well.
Dan Vander Kooi:
It is cool too when LC plays Lynden in volleyball or basketball or whatever we do, the coaches versus cancer pretty tied in with that here. It's just cool to see that place packed with an entire community. And then you get to hear the stories of people too that have been through that fight with cancer and different things too. And it really brings the community together, even though they want to beat each other, right?
David VanderYacht:
Correct. Yeah.
Dan Vander Kooi:
It's a great rivalry.
David VanderYacht:
It's great.
Dan Vander Kooi:
But it's a healthy rivalry and I think it's really cool.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. Absolutely. So there'd see some work to work to protect that. And then we would put a performing arts center on the campus itself. And so choir and band and seating, that may allow for a little bit larger venue in the community than what we currently have.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Cool. Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And we think that also is going to be a benefit to the community.
In terms of athletic fields, those would be upgraded with synthetic turf that we think that it really expands its use. The track would need to be expanded. We'd want to be able to play soccer on that campus. And we see our families spend a lot of money to go other places. And we think that hosting things here, both in the performing arts and athletics would be a benefit. And so that would be some of the physical things that we'd see.
The way it works is that the community has to support it before the actual plans...
Dan Vander Kooi:
Can be fully done, right?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. Fully done. And those costs, we've experienced some great escalation in construction costs, and we would just do our best to be able to say yes and meet the need of the broader community.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. Did you see that, I mean, the Lynden Middle School bond that went through, right?
David VanderYacht:
Yep.
Dan Vander Kooi:
It was turned down a few times at first and then it passed. From the first time it went on to when, did you see a significant difference in what that bond had to be to meet the needs of that building project then that capital project?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. It's a real factual evidence of what escalation and construction costs can do to the cost of a project.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And so 2011 was the first bond run for the Fisher Middle School project. And I want to make sure I get my, it was a $33 million... It was a 33 million ask for those two schools, and it passed in 2015 on the fourth try. And that was at $48 million. So I want to say it was 35 because it was a $13 million increase increase over those five years. And so we saw the escalation go up. It did not get reduced in terms of the project, but the costs did continue.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Inflation happens, right?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah. Which is one of the arguments that citizen's group is attempting to make. If the need is there... And when people go to Lynden High School, they conclude that the need is there. Then it's the cost part that is limiting people from being able to support it. And we get that and are sensitive to that. But we also think long-term, we don't know if that's not the most fiscally responsible thing to do.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Just to kick the can down the road... It doesn't...
David VanderYacht:
I think people think, will those costs come back down? They won't. Now, we did see significant escalation that maybe went beyond and inflation is going past wages and salaries. That's what families are feeling. But now, as inflation is coming back closer to increases into wages and salaries, then I think it's just fiscally responsible time to invest in community capital project.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah. What are you hearing around the community in this? Because like you said, it is a big ask. My kids go to LC. We have tuition on top of that, but yet I'm so involved in youth baseball or my kids are playing basketball. My kids play football. So we've used the Lynden Middle School for practice and things. And so I understand it because my kids are in the thick of it, and I was a coach for a long time. So I see different venues, I see how they get used. And so it is an ask sometimes if maybe your kid goes to a different school or you don't have kids anymore.
But I think you hit on it earlier too, the importance of investing into the next generation of our kids and our community. Cause there is a direct correlation, healthy communities have healthy schools. And I don't know if I would've always seen that, but I think as I get older...
David VanderYacht:
How old are you?
Dan Vander Kooi:
I just turned 40.
David VanderYacht:
Okay. Yep.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And my daughter's a freshman now, and so I was like, I got three more summers with her. But you start to see that and you start to see what your kids are involved in, and you start to have a sense of pride in your community. Even... Shoot, I still remember if I needed a new drill, I might run down to Home Depot and save the 20 bucks or whatever or whatnot. And now it's like I won't bat an eye. I'll go anywhere in Lynden to get that.
David VanderYacht:
Same.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Probably over to Brandon at Ace, but I'm going to go somewhere local because to me, that's going to come back around. And if my kids are going and fundraising for something or just, the dollar stays here. And so if there's those venues and those things, even outside of the educational side, but on a facility side that can be invested into our community, it plays a big part in everybody.
David VanderYacht:
Yes. Yeah.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And so what are you kind of hearing and how are you feeling about stuff, I guess?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, I appreciate the question.
Dan Vander Kooi:
I know it's a lot.
David VanderYacht:
I go to a lot of places and one reflection I have had is on that generational, I just have this tremendous... Cause same. I've got a young family, I'm trying to figure out how to provide for my young family. I don't now, I'm 55. So I have a young family and I'm trying to save money every place I can go. And that is legitimate. And so people who are in that mode right now, I definitely understand and humble in the request. And I don't want people to go to a ballot and feeling guilt and shame. I want them to vote on, be informed, make a decision that you need to be able to make.
But I have also seen as people who've accessed the private school, which is a tremendous school, right? Schools in our community. As they've gotten older and as those things have gone through, I think there's a recognition of the broader community and the youth within the community. When you're raising your own kid, you're pretty focused on your own kids and their experience. As you get older, you start thinking about Guatemalan kids and you start thinking about what type of experience can I contribute to and invest in? And I do see that as people.
And again, many people are blessed in Lynden, we're resourced. Not everybody has that. And that's one of the things that public school really works to invest in is young people that are not from resourced circumstances to be able to contribute in that key equalizer. And we think they're great. Everybody's going to be great employee. We want great employees. We want great potential spouses for our kids and neighbors and all that.
And so that is one thing that I see in the older generation, this general support for schools. But it comes with an accountability. And so a couple of things I'm hearing. One is the cost is high, and that cost is on approval of the bond. We're estimating at a $1.53 per a thousand. So that basically you take your assessed value and you divide that by a thousand and multiply by a $1.53. And that would be an annual cost of...
Dan Vander Kooi:
Do you want to say that again? Cause I'm sure there's some people who want to figure that. So you take your assessed value.
David VanderYacht:
Your assessed value of your home, divide that by a thousand, and then multiply it by a $1.53. And that is the rough cost of the bond project, the capital bond project. Now what happens, this gets complicated, but what happens as a community starts increasing its assessed values of their homes, and we're building Taco Bells and where different things that assessed value goes up significantly, and it has in Lynden. And so in 2023, if you want to take what your increase is going to be on this ballot compared to what you were paying in 2023, and you and I did this before going on the air.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
That multiplier is a $1.38. So you take your 2023, you take your current assessed value, and you take and divide by a thousand, multiply by a $1.38, and that would be the increased cost if both of these funding initiatives pass.
Dan Vander Kooi:
For the length of the bond or will it adjust year to year on my assessed value?
David VanderYacht:
So we're putting it out there as assessment for the length of the bond. But here's the other good news and this hard news. This is the hard message to get out to voters is that that $1.53, that $1.38, will not remain a $1.38 and $1.53. But we cannot say that. It is dependent on assessed value. So the more homes that we have built in Lynden, the more industry that is built in West Lynden, the higher assessed value of all the homes in Lynden, decreases the slice of the pay. So we're only collecting a set amount through those levies. Everybody thought my assessed value went up 20%, so my taxes are going to go up 20%. That's not the case.
Dan Vander Kooi:
How it's going to work with... Okay.
David VanderYacht:
That's not how that works.
Dan Vander Kooi:
That's really critical, actually.
David VanderYacht:
Yes. I know.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Because we are...
David VanderYacht:
If I had a whiteboard... No, no.
Dan Vander Kooi:
I have one over there. Mark, can we swing the...? No? No?
But that's a big piece of it because I think a lot of people, cause I look at... Even, we were talking before we went on air, my house appraised for something as we were doing some different stuff with the bank, and it was actually lower than the year before because market had kind of dipped a bit, right? But then this year, my assessed value from the county, which is this is the first time I've ever seen it happen.
David VanderYacht:
Yep. First time they ever sent the little mailing out either that said how much you were paying in the school.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
Anyway, keep going. Sorry to interrupt.
Dan Vander Kooi:
But the county assessed my house more than the bank assessed my house for the value of that. And so just a difference in things. And so I think understanding that as more people come into the community as different businesses and commerce continues to happen, our rate's going to stay that rate that we agreed to.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, likely it's going to go down. And I'll give some examples that, but I can't say that...
Dan Vander Kooi:
You got to be careful because you can't...
David VanderYacht:
Because all of a sudden, and we did have a housing issue in 2008 and those rates didn't go down.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah.
David VanderYacht:
And so that is why we can't say it. But I can give some recent history of some things. And one of the recent history is that the bond that passed in 2015 was advertised for those two schools was a $1.39 per a thousand. And we project out that's going to be a $1.39 for 20 years. And right now it's 62 cents per a thousand. So it was in 2015, started in 2016. So over seven years, it's gone from a $1.38 or a $1.39 per a thousand to 62 cents per a thousand. And the reason is is because of the assessed value. And Lynden has increased so significantly, both through industry and the number of homes.
So we collect the same amount, the 48 million. That doesn't go up. And so then everybody's pie is based on their assessed value. So if your house went up 20% and the average in Lynden was 21%, your taxes would actually go down a percent. Now, if you're a lot lower than that or a lot higher than that, it'll go up. And if there's four houses paying into a district and they're collecting a thousand dollars, each of those houses are going to pay $250. If a fifth house is built, each of those houses are going to pay $200. Cause they're still only collecting a thousand dollars.
Dan Vander Kooi:
That makes a lot of sense. That creates a lot of clarity around that too, I think, because that's a misconception I believe that's out there. And again, even part of the reason I asked you to just come on is because I think some... You're in it every day.
David VanderYacht:
Yes.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Caleb in my office. Kyle, these other, Kyle Kleindel, these other guys that are involved in this, they're studying it, they're going through this. But for the person that's waking up in the morning, dropping their kids off at school and going to work and coming home, sometimes they just look at it, they don't see it, and they don't understand the why behind it. They don't understand how it all works. And I hope this helps create a little clarity. I'll give you, I guess I'll give you the floor a little bit here just to kind of wrap things up, is there anything else that you feel just that people need to know or understand or before we go into this?
David VanderYacht:
Yeah, I appreciate that. The other thing... Yes, maybe two things. One is, it's not just the high school. So Isom Elementary School and Bernice Vossbeck Elementary School were built in the eighties, late eighties, early nineties. Those buildings are renovatable and they're functional. And so part of this investment is to make those, to expand those buildings to be able to hold more students as we continue to grow.
We currently use twenty-six portables in the Lynden School District to serve students. So we want to put permanent classroom space in those, and we want to build that space for young learners, early learners that we're currently serving in our schools and kids with special needs. And right now those students are being served in these general typical classrooms. Well, we run out of space, so then we put people out in portables. So that's part of this is we think a fiscally responsible way to meet the needs of a growing demand. And so that's another piece of this bond that we think is really important for the community.
And then the last thing is you asked me what I hear. I continue... People have high expectations for the public school system. It does... Things have become very political at the national level. And I still hear things that people think we're doing. And I think it affects what their perceptions are of the Lynden School District. And I just want to encourage people to engage with me or engage with people who have kids in our schools and maybe just pause for some time and just look at who the people are that are serving in our public schools and what our commitments are to young people.
And so I do still hear that, "I'm not going to support the public school because they..." And they usually rattle off things that are just not things that are of value to the Lynden School District. And that would be the other opportunity. I've been trying to share that and opportunities defend public school a little bit. And also, children are wonderful and beautiful and they're a blessing. And let's be positive about us and others around young people. I think it's going to result in better outcomes for all of us. So yeah, my floor is, I appreciate this opportunity.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah, absolutely. I think too, I think one of the really neat things for me, when you got put into that position, I feel like... I think God puts certain people in leadership for certain reasons. And to hear your story of being over here 32 years and the impact that you've been able to make and build trust throughout those years with colleagues and things like that, I just want to say, I think you've done a phenomenal job.
David VanderYacht:
Thank you.
Dan Vander Kooi:
And it doesn't go unnoticed from people who might not even have kids in those buildings, but I have friends in those buildings. And so your leadership's been incredible. I can't say that enough. It's a big deal to our community. So keep up the good work. Thanks for coming on here.
David VanderYacht:
Yeah.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Yeah, we'll put a link in the podcast here for you guys to go check out more information on it. But I want to say thanks to David VanderYacht for coming out and talking about this, and look for that on your ballot February...?
David VanderYacht:
February 13th.
Dan Vander Kooi:
February 13.
David VanderYacht:
Ballots will be sent January 24th.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Okay.
David VanderYacht:
And so districts can't promote a yes or a no. There is a citizen's group that is working as well, and so you'll start seeing more and more information from that.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Great.
David VanderYacht:
Just appreciate it.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Awesome. Thanks David.
David VanderYacht:
All right.
Dan Vander Kooi:
Have a great week everybody.
