Cramped Woodland schools cringe at casino

WOODLAND -- The Cowlitz Indian's $510 million casino will add to overcrowding in Woodland schools and may increase the number of problem students, according to district officials, who want the tribe to pay for coping with those challenges.

District officials this week said they aren't buying the tribe's claim that only a few students would be added to Woodland schools. The casino is projected to become Clark County's largest employer, creating nearly 3,200 jobs, said Superintendent Michael Green.

"The reality is those can be huge impacts for (school) districts," said Green told the school board Monday.

The board instructed Green to draft a resolution seeking a supplemental environmental study on the impact the Cowlitz project would have on nearby school districts. The board will consider the resolution at its Nov. 5 meeting.

The tribe wants to build the casino-resort at the La Center interchange off Interstate 5, just six miles south of Woodland. A consultant working for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, which will decide the fate of the project, released a draft environmental impact study in March.

That study's conclusion that the casino would have little impact on nearby school systems is "easily challenged if you look at other data that's out there," Green said.

He cited a study by ECONorthwest, a Portland-based consultant that evaluated the project for La Center card rooms, who funded the study and have been top opponents of the proposed Cowlitz casino.

It's still unclear how many students the casino would add to Woodland schools, Green said. The school board hopes better projections would come out of a supplemental impact study, he said.

Phil Harju, spokesman for the Cowlitz tribe, said Tuesday he wasn't aware of the Woodland School District's concerns. He expects casino employees would live from Portland to Longview. He questioned the reliability of the ECONorthwest study.

"I think anything funded by the La Center card rooms is suspect," he said.

Harju said he expects impacts around the casino will be addressed in the tribe's final environmental impact study. No release date for that document has been set.

The tribe is still willing to work with the school district about its concerns, Harju said.

"It does seem a little late in the process, but like I said the tribe is willing to discuss things," Harju said.

Besides adding to overcrowding, the casino could create other challenges for the district, Green said.

Casino workers are projected to have a median annual salary of $28,000. Employees making less than that amount will likely move into the district, Green said. He said statistics show that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds require more social and academic support and have higher drop-out rates. All these factors effect school budgets, Green said.

The board asked Green to request school funding from the tribe both for the initial impact of the casino and ongoing impacts. Board members did not specify an amount.

"We need to see something that's an ongoing contribution," said board member Saundra Tone.