If Albany enrollment continues to grow at its current rate, its total elementary, middle and high school populations will be up by more than 500 students at each level by 2016.

That’s the word from Wayne Goates, the Albany district’s director of student services, who went over the information Monday with the Albany School Board as part of a report on fall enrollment.

The discussion was one of several Monday relating to the Nov. 7 election, which will tell the district whether voters have agreed to build a new school as part of a $55 million, 10-year bond measure.

At the meeting, board members also voted unanimously to accept a contract for bond underwriting services and heard about publicity efforts by the bond’s political action committee, Building Schools 4 Kids.

If approved, the measure will build a school for third through eighth grades. It also will be used to make major repairs, from plumbing to roofwork, to the rest of the district’s buildings.

Property owners would pay a total of $1.74 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Tax bills will not rise by $1.74, however, because residents are continuing to pay off the remainder of a bond measure passed in 1996.

Enrollment in Albany’s schools was at 8,972 as of Oct. 13. The district has grown by more than 450 students in the past two years and stands to rise by more than 200 next year, Goates said.

If voters approve the new building, it will go a long way toward easing enrollment pressure in elementary and middle school classrooms, Goates said. However, he added, “We still have a problem coming from the high schools.”

Growth in four of the past five school years has been larger than Goates predicted. “The worst thing you want to do is overproject and overstaff.”

Lisa Shogren, speaking for the political action committee, said her group has done one series of phone calls reminding people to vote and is planning a second. Bond supporters also are continuing to canvass neighborhoods with informational fliers, she said.

Following Monday’s board vote, the district will enter a $182,000 contract with Seattle Northwest Securities for bond underwriting services. The money is part of the $500,000 set aside as part of the $55 million for bond issuance costs.