WASHINGTON — In a dispute between the “build new” versus “renovate the old,” the decision of building a new high school sits in the hands of the Washington Community School District Board of Education — despite some community opposition.

Residents have shut down four proposals since 2006 that involved increasing property taxes.

Under a recommendation from the district’s Advisory Committee on School Facilities, board members are pursuing a plan that suggests 90 percent of the sales tax money allotted to their schools to be used to fund the building of a new high school, and 10 percent to make repairs to other buildings in the district.

Board member Patty Roe said using the one percent sales tax generated more support, but under the complete list of construction recommendations, the sales tax couldn’t cover the entire project — most likely causing a future property tax increase bond vote.

And that’s just the concern of Bob McConnell, a leader of a local group called Citizens for Quality Schools.

Calling the recent actions of the school board a “betrayal of public trust,” McConnell said he thinks the plans have been rushed through the board and said he thinks the end result will be a mess.

Without a community vote, McConnell said he thinks the board will an increasingly difficult time passing any future bond measures.

In a series of surveys conducted by the Washington Community School Board in 2008, it was reported that voters believe there is a need for improvements, but remain split on how to accomplish them, and a majority of votes do not support property tax increases.