By this fall, Orcas Elementary students will be treated to clean drinking water and classrooms that don’t require them to wear coats.

The school board has signed on to acquire $900,000 in non-voted debt for building repairs. The board’s plan is to put a small capital levy before voters to pay back the money. An election date has not yet been determined.

“I’ve had many conversations with people who I’d had heated discussions with (over the previous, failed bonds) and they support this,” said school board member Scott Lancaster at a public hearing on June 8. “We’re committed to cutting programs if we have to in order to pay this, but we have four years of payments ready now that give us some breathing room. It’s scary, but so is having kids in run-down buildings.”

In February, the district was offered $900,000 in federal grant monies to make repairs to the elementary school. To secure the grant, they had to provide matching funds to complete the project, which includes a new HVAC system, motion control heat and lighting, and replacing the galvanized plumbing with copper pipes. The improvements are estimated to save the school $13,000 a year in energy bills.

The deadline to complete the repairs is June 2012, so the work must be done this summer. The district originally wanted to acquire $1 million as a cushion, in case the building has more problems than expected. That additional $100,000 will be fundraised by Orcas resident Marilyn Anderson.

University Mechanical Contractors, an energy performance contracting business in Seattle, has been serving as the project manager. Orcas construction firm Terra Firma Northwest and electrician Kevin Loomis are already on board to participate.

School administration has spent the last few months negotiating with two banks to sell the bonds. A Capital One offer allows the school to pay off the entire amount after only 10 years, while a Cashmere Valley Bank offer allows pay-off at any time. The Capital One interest rate is 2.5 percent while Cashmere’s is 3.85 percent for the first five years and 5 percent for the final five.

The board opted to go with Cashmere, in order to pay off the amount early. According to business manager Keith Whitaker, with a $40,000 capital project fund balance, $52,000 in energy rebates from OPALCO, and energy savings, the school would have enough money to make payments for five years.

“I want to give appreciation to the board for their diligence and I urge you to move forward,” said teacher Bruce Orchid during the hearing. His sentiments were seconded by other teachers and community members in attendance.

Board member Jim Sullivan cast the lone dissenting vote.

“I’ve been the only voice saying no on this – both on principle and the risk it puts the district in,” he said. “…holding the community hostage is still a concern to me. I am also worried about endangering the Maintenance and Operations Levy (set to go before voters in early 2012).”