Richland School Board discusses rebuilding Jefferson Elementary

Families at Richland’s Jefferson Elementary School will likely have to wait a few more years for scheduled improvements, but they’ll end up getting a whole new school instead of just a new wing.

The Richland School Board gave consensus Tuesday night to a plan from Superintendent Rick Schulte to rebuild the central Richland school as part of the district’s $98 million bond approved by voters two years ago.

Only the school’s classroom wing, dating from the early 1950s, was originally set for replacement under the bond. Rebuilding the whole school would cost about $16.3 million. The new facility would likely be placed in the open space on the north end of its campus.

“There are still a number of unknowns but those unknowns are in our favor,” Schulte said.

No formal board decision was made and planning for the rebuild likely won’t start for at least a year. Board members, however, noted this is an opportunity the district shouldn’t pass up.

Design work for the new Jefferson would start as early as May 2016 and the new school could open in August 2018.

“This is a good plan and it goes a long way toward answering questions in that part of the district,” said board member Rick Jansons.

Higher-than-anticipated state matching dollars for the bond, a result of booming enrollment, prompted the recommendation for a complete rebuild, Schulte said. The district initially projected it would receive $30 million in state dollars to help with bond projects. Newer estimates put that number closer to $50 million.

Replacing the old classroom wing would cost about $4.8 million, Schulte said, with the district and the state splitting the cost. But only another $6 million, combined with additional state dollars, would rebuild the whole campus at its current size.

Jefferson would remain a small school with a maximum enrollment of 450 compared to more than 600 at most other district schools, Schulte said, potentially limiting the size of spaces such as the library and computer labs.

But there would be significant gains in efficiency — in rebuilding all at once, rather than piece by piece over the years, and in operations as a single building, rather than two.

“There is capacity here to do everything you’ve asked to do,” Schulte said.

Jefferson has been a source of tension in the district in past years. The board initially considered closing it as an elementary school to make it the home for alternative program Three Rivers HomeLink as part of the bond. That was eventually rejected after Jefferson parents criticized that plan and threatened to rally against the bond.

Since the bond passed, parents from the school have regularly questioned the board about when the new wing would be built, noting that all the other bond projects have begun or are close to finishing.

The district will need the matching dollars from the planned new middle school in West Richland to help finance the replacement of Jefferson, Schulte said. Work at Jefferson couldn’t start until that project is finished.

Enrollment, a change in the state’s allocations for school construction and costs for remaining bond projects also come into play but they aren’t expected to be a problem, Schulte said.

“In concept and in principle it appears the right thing to do,” said Vice Chairman Rick Donahoe.

The proposal was recently discussed at a Jefferson parent-teacher organization meeting, said counselor Susie Oram, and it was welcomed.

“They’re a little discouraged that it’s taking so long but happy to see things finally happening,” she said.

While it will be some time before a look for the new school is developed, Schulte said some site work is already under way. The delay also will give the district plenty of time to fully consider student needs and aim for the best design possible.

“That’ll give people some time to do some real blue sky dreaming,” Schulte said.

“Within budget,” board member Heather Cleary added.

This story was originally published February 10, 2015 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Richland School Board discusses rebuilding Jefferson Elementary ."