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| Destination resort development yields a mixed bag of impacts on schools |
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| Resorts typically bring more students, and more money |
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 | | CENTRAL OREGONIAN | | Steve Swisher is the superintendent of the Crook County School District and can be reached at steve.swisher@crookcounty.k12.or.us or at 447-5664. |
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Last week, I read the announcement of another proposed destination resort named "Remington Ranch" in the Powell Butte area of Crook County north of Highway 126. This is another resort in the list that began with the Eagle Crest "Brasada" development, now in mid-construction, on the west slopes of Powell Butte. The list also includes the Pahlisch Homes purchase of a ranch close to the Brasada development as well as the approximate 2000 acre purchase by Freund / Spencer Investments on the southeastern slopes of Powell Butte, all zoned for destination resorts.
You may have strong opinions in favor or against the development of these destination resorts. Issues include balancing positive economic development with the best use of the land, farm land preservation, open space, property owners rights, and a variety of other topics. Regardless of how we individually feel about it, many of these developments will be completed and the housing units will sell. We have all read about the rapid growth of Crook County and are already seeing evidence of that all around us.
Destination resorts do impact schools in many ways. The first component is that they do bring more students from the residents themselves. While it is true many of the homeowners will not have school age children, there are some surprising impacts that have been found in studying other similar resorts in central Oregon and other parts of the state. First, a few people with school age children will build permanent residences with the intention of moving there and sending their children to the local schools. You can probably count the number of students fitting that description on your fingers from each of the resorts. That is not the surprising part.
One part that may not be recognized is the grandparent effect. Many of the new residents will be grandparents, and for one reason or the other, may find themselves with the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Another impact is that some families who buy the resort homes for recreation as a second home, may later decide they do not want their children to attend the urban or suburban school where their primary residence is located. I have seen families intentionally split for a period of time with the primary wage earner staying in the metro area and commuting on weekends while the other spouse and children stay in the resort home and attend the rural school. This occurs due to a variety of reasons, but basically parents want to protect their children from what they perceive to be negative urban or metro area influences. Also families with children will move to Prineville for the jobs supporting the destination resorts and in other related businesses.
All of this means that we will see new students as a result of the resorts. Many of them will be in the Powell Butte School attendance area, although several of them will be middle or high school students. This trend will put growth pressure on Powell Butte School, our oldest school, with its severe traffic issues. Because of its location on the highway, ODOT continues to put restrictions on access to the school property.
On a positive note, the total assessed valuation in Crook County School District will greatly increase due to the new resorts and their homes. In the future, when we need to ask for an increased bond authority from our voters to build new schools or upgrade and add to our current schools, the new property owners in the county will help make it possible to minimize the tax rate increase for current property owners. This is the silver lining of the destination resorts for the funding of school construction.
Steve Swisher is the superintendent for the Crook County School District. He can be reached at: steve.swisher@crookcounty.k12.or.us. |
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