The school received four trophies for a recent production of “Little Shop of Horrors” in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s annual awards to recognize musical theater at high schools across the Evergreen State. The honor is akin to a Tony Award for student performers and productions.

Photo from Issaquah School District
Carnivorous plant Audrey II (Sheady Manning-Bruce, Natalie Gress and Addison Halpin-Higman) convinces Seymour (Tucker Goodman) to feed it.

“Little Shop of Horrors” garnered awards for Outstanding Music Direction for choir director Robin Wood, Outstanding Scenic Design, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and the top honor, Outstanding Overall Musical Production.

“We have a strong production team and strong talent,” said Katherine Klekas, longtime Liberty drama program director. “I think that was what made this one so special is that it was consistent across the board.”

The campy musical revolved around a carnivorous plant, Audrey II, a puppet comprised of limbs and vines crafted for the performance.

Jeremy Dodd earned the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role honor for a turn as a floral shop proprietor.

The sophomore donned a bald cap and extensive makeup to transform from a teenager to the curmudgeonly Mr. Mushnik.

“He’s a natural actor,” Klekas said. “He’s really fun to work with.”

The awards, presented in a glitzy ceremony at The 5th Avenue Theatre, included a performance from nominated actors and actresses. Liberty performers offered a rendition of the classic “Little Shop of Horrors” number “Skid Row (Downtown)” for the 2,100-member theater audience.

Tucker Goodman, a Liberty senior nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, sang “The Meek Shall Inherit” — a “Little Shop of Horrors” song from the timid protagonist, Seymour.

Overall, the awards program included 191 nominations and 99 honorable mentions. Liberty performers garnered 13 nominations for “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Statewide, 93 productions representing more than 9,000 students applied for consideration in the annual awards.

Liberty started participating in the awards program in 2005. “Seussical” in 2006 received 11 nods, the most nominations a Liberty show received before “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“It’s never a sure thing,” Klekas said. “There was a lot of really, really strong productions, so you just never know.”

Issaquah High School earned honorable mention recognition for Outstanding Musical Direction for a fall production of “Fiddler on the Roof” — the debut musical at the school’s Performing Arts Center.

Klekas credited students dedicated to technical aspects and stage performances, supportive parents and connections to Village Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Professionals from the theaters offer guidance to students in the Liberty program.

“Little Shop of Horrors” also bears the distinction as the last show presented at the existing Liberty performing arts center. The school is scheduled to open a rebuilt performing arts center during the 2012-13 school year.

The Issaquah School District is wasting no time when it comes to putting its recently-approved $219 million bond dollars into action.

The school board reviewed a preliminary schedule of projects and timeline for school construction and other district upgrades at its May 9 meeting. Some projects could begin as soon as July and others extend through the end of 2019.

“Somebody has to be first, and somebody has to be last,” said Jacob Kuper, chief operations officer for the district.

Phase 2 construction of Liberty High School and Phase 2 at Maywood Middle School are first in line with finishes projected by the end of 2013. At the caboose of the tentative timeline is the reconstruction of Sunny Hills Elementary School, which wouldn’t finish until December 2018.

Construction to improve Skyline High School’s stadium would begin April 2013 and run through September 2014. As a result, Skyline’s football team is likely to play away games for the entire 2013 season. Issaquah High School will have the same problem a few years later when its stadium remodel takes place from April 2016 to August 2017.

This summer, the district hopes to install artificial turf on the athletic fields at Beaver Lake and Maywood middle schools. It would then install turf fields at Pine Lake and Pacific Cascade middle schools the following summer.

“We didn’t want to take all the fields out over the course of the summer because it would be a huge impact on the community,” said Steve Crawford, director of capital projects for the district.

The tentative schedule only listed major projects, with repairs and other smaller projects bundled together to be done over the next seven years and possibly beyond.

“This is a draft schedule, subject to change,” said Kuper. “When you are talking about 80 percent of a decade, there are going to be changes.”

He and Crawford explained that there are a number of factors that influence the timeline, like permitting with different jurisdictions and whether or not construction is located in rural or urban areas.

A different contracting method

Crawford and Kuper also suggested using an alternative contracting method for the more complex project of relocating Issaquah Middle School, Clark Elementary School and Tiger Mountain High School. The method, General Contractor Construction Management, would replace the traditional bidding process.

Instead, the district would bring in a general contractor early on in the design phase to be a part of the multi-phase project throughout. By doing so, Crawford said the district would get the contractor’s expertise on things like materials and efficiencies. He said the district would negotiate costs with the contractor.

“I think there is the potential to save some money…we will know earlier in the process where the big costs are,” said Crawford.

Another area where it could save money, he said, is by potentially reducing delays. The threat of delays would be stronger, he explained, if three separate contractor bids are accepted for three different phases.

In this case, one general contractor would be responsible for the whole project. Ideally, each phase, including the relocation of three different student bodies, would be better synchronized if one firm is managing the entire process.

“The advantage is to shorten the timeline,” said Crawford.

The district’s preliminary timeline includes two possible schedules for the Issaquah, Clark and Tiger Mountain project. The first, using the traditional bidding method, estimates that the project would begin this month with its design and permitting phase and continue through the beginning of 2017. The target move-in date for students would be August 2016.

The second schedule, using one general contractor, would also start this month with early designs and permitting. Construction would finish at the beginning of 2016 with students set to be in their new facilities by August 2015.

District officials have not made a final decision yet and Kuper said that at this point and time, both avenues – going the traditional bidding route or using its alternative – are still open.

While Washington school districts are allowed to pursue the latter option, this would be the first time that the Issaquah School District does so.

First, however, the district must get approval from the state. Washington’s Capital Projects Advisory Review Board is expected to review the district’s projects’ proposals later this month or in June.

No-bid contracts would still be competitive

Should Issaquah School District officials decide to use the general contractor construction method, they must still abide by state requirements for how the general contractor is picked. Under state law, the contractor must be hired through a competitive process that involves the district publicly posting that it is looking for proposals.

The call for proposals has to include details such as a description of the project, reasons for using this method in the first place and a description of how proposals will be scored. The state also has guidelines for how the proposals are evaluated, including requiring a committee to do the evaluating. The applicants would be judged on their reputation, workload and the amount of work their firm could do itself. Finalists would need to submit a more detailed proposal, which would include an estimated maximum cost.

To make the final choice, those proposals would then have to be opened and read publicly. The public would also then get the chance to see how the finalists were scored.

Learn more about guidelines for capital projects at www.ga.wa.gov/cparb/.

Andrew Rekdahl

NEW — 11:30 a.m. May 16, 2012

Issaquah School District and Eastside Catholic High School officials sought to reassure parents and students May 11 after federal agents arrested a substitute bus driver for the Issaquah district and former Eastside Catholic teacher for possession of child pornography.

Andrew Bernard Rekdahl, 29, faces child pornography charges after federal prosecutors said the Carnation resident shared explicit images and videos of boys online from his home computer.

Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Rekdahl at a school district facility May 10 after a monthslong sting operation.

Federal prosecutors charged him with one count each of possession and distribution of child pornography. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

Rekdahl served as a substitute bus driver for more than a dozen routes throughout the school district between Nov. 14 and May 10 and as a science teacher at Eastside Catholic in Sammamish from 2005 to June 2010.

Officials at the school district and the parochial school said no complaints occurred against Rekdahl at either organization.

“This is obviously a very serious charge, and our first priority is making sure that he acted as a professional at all times while driving for us,” Issaquah School District Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said in a message to parents.

Rekdahl served as a substitute teacher at Eastside Catholic once after he lost his job due to budget cuts.

“Eastside Catholic is not presently, nor has it ever been, aware of any concerns regarding Mr. Rekdahl’s conduct during his association with our school,” Sister Mary Tracy, Eastside Catholic president, said in a message to parents.

Rekdahl was a well-liked teacher at Eastside Catholic. In 2010, students and parents raised more than $17,000 to support him as he underwent treatment for aggressive duodenal carcinoma, or cancer of the small intestine.

In a customary procedure for bus drivers, school district officials cleared Rekdahl through mandatory state and federal background checks before he started driving in November. Both background checks accurately indicated a clean record.

Federal agents told school district officials no evidence exists to indicate any inappropriate or illegal activities occurred as Rekdahl worked for the district.

Following the arrest, school district administrators immediately stopped employing him with future substitute assignments.

The district is also investigating footage of him driving on bus routes. Officials confirmed he never activated or used his employee email account.

In May 2011, a federal agent created an undercover account on a peer-to-peer file-sharing website to target users sharing child pornography.

In January, the agent noticed a user named Hboyandy sharing explicit videos through the file-sharing website. Then, using a publicly available software program, the agent identified the IP address of Rekdahl’s computer.

The next day, the agent requested information from Comcast for the subscriber information attached to the IP address.

In April, Hboyandy again made explicit images and videos available for sharing through the file-sharing website.

The agent then obtained Rekdahl’s driver’s license photo from the state Department of Licensing and matched the photo against Rekdahl’s Facebook page.

In early May, the agent conducted surveillance on Rekdahl’s residence in Carnation and checked to see if somebody else shared the files through an unsecured Wi-Fi network attached to Rekdahl’s IP address. The only unsecured account near the home came from the nearby Carnation Library.

On May 9, the agent obtained a search warrant, and the next day, federal agents and Duvall-Carnation police officers searched the home and located multiple digital media storage devices. Rekdahl was not at home during the search, and agents entered the residence through the unlocked front door.

Investigators searched a laptop computer at the scene and discovered 194 files of child pornography.

Following the search, agents interviewed Rekdahl at a school district facility in Issaquah. During questioning, he admitted to sharing child pornography online. Agents arrested him at about 10:30 a.m.

The next day, as the school district and Eastside Catholic faced questions about the arrest, administrators used the Internet to share information and address parents’ concerns.

“We also believe it important to highlight on this sad occasion that Eastside Catholic maintains strong policies to address any inappropriate conduct by our staff,” Tracy said. “This is consistent with our unwavering commitment to the safety of our students and community as well as long-standing resolve to fulfill our Catholic educational mission.”

The school district posted a list of Rekdahl’s bus routes. The substitute bus driver covered routes throughout the district, serving elementary, middle and high schools.

The district stretches from Preston to Newcastle, and from Sammamish to Renton, and includes 107 school bus routes.

The district employs 24 substitute bus drivers, but only 10 are available every day at all times of day. The others are available sporadically throughout the month. District officials did not specify Rekdahl’s availability, citing personnel privacy policies.

Federal agents arrested a substitute bus driver for the Issaquah School District for child pornography possession Thursday.

In the course of the investigation, security officials told district officials no evidence exists to believe any inappropriate or illegal activities occurred as the driver — identified as Carnation resident Andrew Bernard Rekdahl in court documents — worked for the district.

Parents are encouraged to email the district at DriverConcerns@issaquah.wednet.edu if they have concerns after speaking with their children. Rasmussen said in a statement that parents have been calling for details about specific routes the driver covered during his time with the district. A list of those routes should be available on the district website this afternoon.

Prosecutors charged charged Rekdahl with possession and distribution of child pornography.

“This is obviously a very serious charge, and our first priority is making sure that he acted as a professional at all times while driving for us,” Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said in a statement released early Friday afternoon.

Prosecutors said Rekdahl shared explicit images and videos of boys online.

In customary procedure, the Issaquah district cleared the substitute driver through mandatory state and federal background checks before he started driving in November. Both background checks accurately showed a clean record.

The district never received complaints or concerns about the driver during his short employment.

District administrators have immediately stopped employing the driver with any future substitute assignments. The district is also investigating footage of him driving his routes. Officials confirmed he never activated or used his employee email account.

In 2010, Rekdahl worked as a teacher at Eastside Catholic High School.

As the next major step to align each of the three high schools schedules in the Issaquah School District, administrators encourage parents and students to become involved with the Liberty High School Schedule Committee that will be formed this month.

The parent and student application and a timeline of the project are available online now.

Applications are due to Kathy Schroeder in Liberty’s main office by May 18, and parents of Maywood Middle School and Liberty students are especially encouraged to apply.

The school will continue with the same eight-period schedule for the 2012-13 school year. Issaquah and Skyline high schools have a six-period daily schedule in place, while Liberty has eight.

ISD Superintendent Steve Rasmussen required action on the topic after a high school scheduling committee was formed last year to take on and rectify problems associated with the schedules.

In the scheduling committee’s final report, two main issues emerged: the need to increase student and teacher interaction time at Liberty and provide student access to more courses throughout the school year, especially at Issaquah and Skyline.

Because of Liberty’s eight?period block schedule, it is approximately 24 hours under the requirement and approximately 36 hours below Issaquah and Skyline High Schools, which have six period schedules, Rasmussen wrote in a statement to students, staff and parents in January.

Rasmussen outlined the beginning of the 2013-14 school year as the final date for implementation on a new schedule. The Liberty schedule committee will meet between September and November and submit a new schedule proposal to Rasmussen on Nov. 7.

“The goal of a common schedule is important because it will allow sharing of resources, an improved educational experience, standardized professional development and comparable expectations around pacing and instruction, and potential for increased opportunities for all students to access courses and programs that do not exist in a student’s home school,” he stated.

In the April 17 special election, 70 percent of voters — encompassing more than 15,000 yes votes of out more than 22,000 ballots cast — approved the measure. (The measure needed to receive a 60 percent yes vote from a minimum turnout of 12,229 voters.)

Despite the passage of the bond, local homeowners will pay less in property taxes to the schools than they do now because a previous bond issue is set to expire this year.

The retirement of the earlier bond will drop the local tax rate from $4.85 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $4.05. Passage of the new bond puts the rate at $4.42.

Compared to present rates, a homeowner with a home valued at $500,000, property taxes will drop by $215 annually, said Jake Kuper, district chief of finance and operations.

King County Elections is scheduled to certify the election results April 27.

Continuing renovation at Liberty High School is a priority as school district officials continue planning to carry out the capital improvements projects outlined in the bond measure.

Steve Crawford, district director of capital projects, said setting priorities and construction schedules is the initial step. Phase 2 reconstruction at Liberty is likely to be at the top of the district’s to-do list, he added.

The bond measure attracted broad support from community and government leaders. City Council members in Issaquah and Sammamish endorsed the proposal. So did the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce.

Phase 2 at Liberty includes revamping the commons, relocating and modernizing facilities for the culinary arts program, and reworking some classrooms. Plans also call for an auxiliary gym and renovation of the locker rooms.

The existing roof, outside of the modernization areas, will be repaired or replaced.

Discussing Phase 2 prior to the election, Liberty Principal Mike DeLetis called a targeted area of the campus as “the bunker” because the classrooms there lack windows.

The total cost for Phase 2 of Liberty’s remodeling is estimated at $39.7 million, not including $4.8 million for rebuilding the outdoor stadium.

The pace of the sale of construction bonds influences the schedule for coming capital improvement work, Crawford said.

Besides the work at Liberty and the new athletic fields, the capital improvement package includes the rebuilding and relocation of Clark Elementary, Issaquah Middle and Tiger Mountain Community High schools at a cost of $108.6 million.

Sunny Hills Elementary also will be rebuilt for $27.1 million.

District officials and bond supporters repeatedly have pointed out the buildings are the oldest in the district.

The capital improvement list also includes a lot of maintenance and renovation work at a vast majority of district schools.

During the bond campaign, district plans for athletic field improvements attracted attention. Each district middle school is in line to receive artificial turf fields and rubberized running tracks.

The schools likely will be done one or two at a time, Crawford said.

Issaquah Schools Foundation Executive Director Robin Callahan said she has been surprised repeatedly by the generosity and commitment of local residents to education.

For some time after initial results were released, Superintendent Steve Rasmussen was handing out certificates, plants and other small gifts to bond supporters, especially various representatives of the Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, the community group that ran the bond campaign.

Lesley Austin, co-chairwoman of the pro-bond campaign, said the voting shows residents have faith in the schools.

“It shows a high level of confidence in the district,” she said.

The Issaquah Schools Foundation is inviting the community to lunch.

The 14th annual Nourish Every Mind Benefit Luncheon begins at 11 a.m. May 10 with a program that aims to teach how community investment is elevating education for all Issaquah School District students.

Last year, the event raised a record $593,000. The foundation used that money to fund education projects in the district, including robotics clubs and the expansion of the Microsoft TEALS program to every high school. The money was also used to help purchase science curriculum materials for district classrooms.

This year, the luncheon will take place at the Issaquah Community Center and open with a silent auction of a variety of items for all budgets. The program starts at noon with John Curley leading as the master of ceremonies. Testimonials from students and teachers who have benefitted from the foundation are also planned.

Learn more by calling 391-8557.

While a $219 million school bond on the April 17 ballot from the Issaquah School District is heavily favored by voters, a $97 million construction bond in the Renton School District is too close to call after the second day of election results.

The Issaquah bond is passing by 69 percent, and the Renton bond is just more than the supermajority needed to pass at 60.28 percent, according to King County’s special election results.

Issaquah School District

The Issaquah electorate faces a choice on a $219 million school construction bond in the April 17 election.

More than 21,200 ballots have been cast in the election. The bond requires a 60 percent yes vote and a minimum turnout of 12,229 voters.

Numbers issued by King County at  just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday show the bond issue is passing easily with 14,763 votes in favor compared to 6,416 votes against.

The Issaquah school issue needs to win the approval of a supermajority of 60 percent of those who vote in order to pass.

Prior to the election, bond backers said based on the number of registered voters expected to cast ballots, the bond issue would  need about 14,000 “yes” votes in order to win approval.

For Liberty High School, passage of the bond would mean completion of the reconstruction and modernization plan now under way thanks to a 2006 voter-approved bond.

At the same time, Apollo and other elementary schools in the district would receive sizable space additions, making room for 120 additional students at each building. Apollo and other schools would benefit from some much-needed maintenance, according to the principals of the schools.

Outside of schools being rebuilt or transplanted, Liberty, Apollo and Issaquah Valley Elementary are the three individual school facilities that would receive the most attention in terms of dollar value should the district win passage of its current bond proposal.

Renton School District

Voters in the Renton district cast ballots for the second time this year on a $97 million school construction bond that would finance a new middle school in Newcastle and facility improvements to Lindbergh High School’s pool, among other projects.

There were 9,778 people who voted in favor of the measure, while 6,442 voted against it.

The bond would need a 60 percent yes vote and a minimum turnout of 10,582 people. More than 14,100 ballots have been verified in the election.

The bond originally came up two points shy of the 60 percent needed to pass in the Feb. 14 special election.

Citizens for Renton Schools Chair John Galluzzo said a major setback to gathering enough support for the bond the first time was not giving residents a clear picture of what the bond would mean to them financially.

The election was about 335 votes short of the ballots needed to approve the bond, he said.

A 30-member task force unanimously agreed to recommend that new school sitings in King County be done in urban areas and rural towns, not in areas designated as rural.

King County officials announced the decision April 11.

“These are thoughtful recommendations that will help deliver educational excellence for our children without sacrificing the environment of our rural areas,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine in a press release.

According to the county, the School Siting Task Force evaluated an inventory of 18 rural properties owned by eight school districts in King County. The county lists one such property owned by the Issaquah School District along Southeast May Valley Road. County information does not provide an exact address.

According to the task force report, the parcel sits between Squak Mountain to the north and Cedar Hills Regional Landfill to the south. The report describes the site as having conservation value and recommends the school district work with county officials as well as leaders in Issaquah and Renton to find urban locations for any future expansion needs.

The property is listed as encompassing just over 79 acres with an assessed value of $1.4 million.

The Issaquah School District is closed this week for spring break. Local officials were not immediately available for comment.

The county described all 18 properties as “straddling” the Urban Growth Boundary, established under state law with the idea of safeguarding rural areas and preventing urban sprawl. The county states the lands were purchased by the school districts involved with an eye toward future growth.

In the case of the Issaquah district property, the task force report states the property does not immediately border an Urban Growth Boundary. It also states the area has no sewers.

Besides the Issaquah district, other districts involved include Northshore, Lake Washington, Snoqualmie, Kent and Tahoma.

“The questions of whether schools should continue to be sited in rural areas has been unresolved for more than a decade,” said Louise Miller, task force chairwoman and a former King County Council member. “I’m happy to have been part of its solution.”

“It’s been a productive and collaborative process,” said Chip Kimball, superintendent of the Lake Washington School District. “We’re pleased to have King County and the cities as partners in supporting academic achievement.”

According to the county, the task force looked at a wide range of technical information in developing its recommendations, including perceived public health benefits connected with placing schools closer to homes so that students can walk or bike to school.

“Children can do better if they can walk to a neighborhood school rather being bused to a remote site in the rural area,” said rural area resident John Chaney, a task force member. “I’m pleased the task force was able to take a comprehensive look at our land use planning and develop solutions that will be lasting.”

Formation of the task force stems from an agreement between King County, Seattle, Bellevue, and the Suburban Cities Association in November to examine the question of whether sewer lines should be extended into rural areas.

The next step appears to be for Constantine to review the task force recommendations and propose new countywide planning policies. The county council will have the final say on any new rules, possibly in September.

With another school bond ending its 20 years of tax collections, this is a good time to get a lot of catch-up work done on our school facilities, while still giving taxpayers a couple hundred dollars’ reduction in property taxes next year (an estimated $215 drop on a $500,000 assessed valuation home.)

Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, the group pushing a yes vote, say this is the biggest campaign it has ever mounted. It’s no wonder. With so many questions and a $219 million price tag, the proposed bond has raised a lot of eyebrows.

There are a lot of questions voters are asking, as we did. Do the middle schools really need artificial-turf fields? Does it really make sense to tear down Clark Elementary School? Does Tiger Mountain Community High School, population 80, really need to be relocated at a cost of $4 million? Isn’t $75,000 for clocks at Beaver Lake Middle School rather excessive? And so on.

First, recognize that the extensive repairs, remodels, permanent classroom additions for 500 students, rebuilds of the five oldest schools, stadium upgrades, safety and energy-saving additions is so extensive that it will take eight years to get it all done — although taxpayers will pay for the next 20 years.

Equality in school facilities will come closer to reality if these projects are completed. Consider that the slower economy makes it a great time to get the best construction bids.

For many voters, this bond request is a stretch. But just like the committee of volunteers who studied the issues and drafted the bond plan, we believe the facilities bond keeps Issaquah schools in tip-top shape and designed for changing educational needs.

Vote yes.