The Washougal School District is preparing to ask the community to support a multimillion-dollar bond measure that would fund the construction of three new schools.
The proposal addresses some of the district’s most pressing needs for heightened security and more space for a growing student body, Superintendent Dawn Tarzian said. In all, the package would include $52 million to $62 million worth of projects for the district, and it would go before voters next year.
Tarzian expects the school board to finalize the proposal at its 6:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at Gause Elementary School, 1100 34th St., Washougal. The largest piece of the package is a proposal to replace Jemtegaard Middle School and build an additional K-5 elementary school on the site.
In 2008, voters rejected a $55 million bond measure with a similar plan to build a shared elementary and middle school campus where Jemtegaard stands at 35300 S.E. Evergreen Highway. The new proposal for a shared campus is estimated to cost anywhere from $46.5 million to $54 million, depending on how large the two schools would be.
The middle school could be built large enough for 650 students and the elementary could house as many as 450, said Joe Steinbrenner, the district’s facilities director.
When it comes to space, the problem isn’t that Washougal is experiencing a population boom. But as a whole, increasing enrollment has slowly pushed the district’s aging facilities to their limits, said Brian Wallace, the district’s business manager.
“We’re close to full, and we’re relying on portables now,” Wallace said. “The further we wait, the more the problem will be magnified.”
In all, the district has 14 portables, housing 27 portable classrooms. The situation presents serious safety concerns at places like Gause, where about 130 students are in portable classrooms nearly all day, Tarzian said.
“The intercom system is not as efficient in those portables, and so our ability to even communicate lockdowns is harder,” she said.
At schools such as Jemtegaard, students walk outside from one class to the next, leaving them in a vulnerable position should they get stuck out there during a lockdown, Tarzian said.
“Even though we have the capacity to lock down external doors at that school, as soon as the bell rings, the kids all walk in between,” she said. “So, it’s a real nightmare.”
The bond measure would also fund a new campus for Excelsior, Washougal’s small alternative high school. The campus is simply a group of three aging portables, housing about 70 students.
The district has a single building in mind for the new alternative high school facility, and it could house as many as 75 to 90 students, Steinbrenner said.
