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State Jump-Starts School Projects; Matching Money Allows Four Districts to Begin Major Construction

Posted on: Sunday, 24 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Before bulldozers and concrete mixers can converge on the open field that will become Evergreen Public Schools' fourth high school, the district needs cold, hard cash.

The same thing is needed to kick off a sweeping remodeling of the district's aging Evergreen High School.

That moment has arrived, with word from Olympia this week that state matching funds for school construction have been released to support four significant Clark County projects:

* For the Evergreen district, the state is providing $26.1 million of the estimated $46 million needed for its new high school, due to open in September 2007. The state will pitch in $28.8 million toward the Evergreen High overhaul, which will cost roughly $39 million.

* Across town, crews have already begun work on a new Eisenhower Elementary School for the Vancouver School District, where $4.1 million in state money will go toward the $10.4 million job that is due to be completed by September 2006.

* In Camas, $7.5 million of state money is going into a $15.5 million conversion of the city's former high school building into a new Liberty Middle School, also to be ready in September 2006.

The influx of money is part of a record-setting $294 million released by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction this year after the state Legislature boosted school construction aid on several fronts. At least 29 Washington school districts will put the matching funds to use on pending projects.

Legislators increased the dollar-per-square-foot funding rate from nearly $130 to about $142, in response to soaring materials costs. Square-foot-per-student allotments in building designs for high school students were raised from 120 to 130 square feet, and likewise for middle school, elementary and disabled student groups. The move recognizes additional space required by computer labs and the like.

Legislators also responded to requests by school leaders and loosened rules to fund modernization work, including projects at Evergreen High and Liberty MIddle School, at much higher new- construction reimbursement rates.

Release of the state funds, based on previously submitted and approved school projects, means work crews should swarm over the Evergreen and Camas sites.

Subcontract bids on construction of the new Evergreen district high school were due Tuesday and are being analyzed, said Reg Martinson, district facilities director. The school board is expected to award those contracts when it meets Aug. 9, he said. Excavation and foundation work are expected to start by late August. Robinson Construction of Hillsboro, Ore., has already been chosen as the general contractor.

Major renovation of Evergreen High will begin this fall. The project will divide the school into five smaller learning academies as part of the district's plan to improve student performance. Upgrades are also due at the campus, which opened in 1968 and was completed in stages over the following six years.

The school's fieldhouse will change dramatically, with new classrooms included in a two-story complex at its west end. New locker rooms are coming, and the main basketball court will be rotated 90 degrees. Evergreen's media center, administration office, main entrance and auditorium also will be moved or overhauled.

Workers have begun removing floor tile containing asbestos from the main building in advance of the project, and the first of 28 additional portable classrooms have been placed in the east parking lot. Classes and faculty will rotate through the portables as work continues in stages that should be complete in 2007, Martinson said.

Flurry subsides

The four projects plus new building projects already under way at Covington Middle School and Orchards Elementary School represent the end of a major Vancouver-area construction flurry this decade.

Vancouver district voters approved an $87.7 million bond issue in March 2001 that allowed construction of Thomas Jefferson Middle School and replacement of six elementary schools, concluding with Eisenhower. Evergreen district voters approved a $40 million bond issue in 1999 and a $168 million bond issue in 2002, allowing construction of five new elementary schools, two middle schools and two new high schools.

While Vancouver is unlikely to need more buildings soon, Evergreen officials coping with enrollment growth expect to seek another bond issue in 2008. Camas school leaders anticipate a bond- issue attempt before long; neighboring Washougal may not be far behind.

In the Battle Ground district, voters last March approved a $63 million construction bond issue that will pay for two new elementary schools, two middle schools and upgrades to other buildings. Design work must be finished before construction can begin. Another bond measure to add a northern Clark County high school could be in the works.

Elsewhere, Ridgefield officials are poised to float a bond measure for a new high school, having already secured property for it. On Sept. 20, Woodland voters will decide on a $3.75 million bond issue to purchase land for a new high school there.

Howard Buck writes about schools and education. Reach him at 360- 759-8015 or e-mail howard.buck@columbian.com.

Update

Vancouver district: The new Eisenhower Elementary School is due to open in September 2006.

Evergreen district: Work begins on the new east Vancouver high school in August; completion is due in September 2007. Major renovation of Evergreen High School, expected to last two years, will start this fall. New Covington Middle School and Orchards Elementary School buildings are due to open in January 2006.

Camas district: Conversion of the old Camas High School building into the new Liberty Middle School is expected to be complete by September 2006.

Battle Ground district: Last March, voters approved a $63 million bond issue to build four schools and upgrade or remodel others. The first buildings are expected to be ready by September 2007.

Source: Columbian

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