Ferndale Voters overwhelmingly supported a Ferndale School Bond in February with 62.04% of voters saying “yes.” That Bond included $112 Million for a new Ferndale High School, renovation of the Performing Arts Center, Critical Maintenance Projects and Safety and Security projects throughout the District. The Bond also included formation of a Bond Oversight Committee to ensure that projects are “on-time, on-budget and as-promised.”

That Oversight Committee met with the Ferndale School Board on the evening of March 20th in the Cascadia Elementary Library.

School Board President Dr. Kevin Erickson said, “We did good work last night. The next few years will be a true partnership and, as with all great partnerships, it takes effort to get the details lined up at the beginning. The District looks forward to and welcomes this group – they have an important role to play in the success of our Bond projects and we are grateful.”

Bond Oversight Committee Co-Chair Anya Milton agrees. “Both the School Board and the Bond Oversight Committee are committed to executing this process correctly. Part of that is working to craft language that will support the incorporation of the Bond Oversight Committee into the Board's Governing Policy. Last night's meeting was intended to set the stage to align our two groups and get us up-to-speed. This is a learning process for all involved, as Ferndale has never approved a bond project of such scope and size. We appreciate the community's support and will welcome your participatory contributions when the Oversight Committee begins our open public meetings.”

The next steps for Oversight Committee formation include finalizing the Oversight Committee Charter and By-laws. Those steps are underway and will be adopted by the Ferndale School Board during an upcoming regular meeting. Once the Committee is officially chartered, Committee meetings and communication will be publically available.