Exclusive | Private ceremony to open multi-million Prosser High leaves some hurt and disappointed

The Prosser Mustangs are ready to celebrate their new campus more than four years after voters approved a $69.3 million construction bond.

But some community members are disappointed that after all residents did to campaign for the bond’s approval in 2017 and their ongoing support, they were left out of the Prosser High School’s grand opening celebration on Saturday.

The new 150,000-square-foot facility is near Art Fiker Stadium.

Invitations to the private celebration were issued by the Prosser School District to about 400 people.

Tickets were required to enter the gymnasium and to hear the guest speaker, retired Gen. Jim Mattis, a Richland native and the former U.S. Secretary of Defense.

The school boosters point out that it should be a public open house because it is a public high school. And traditionally, big events in Prosser are marked by public gatherings with much fanfare to include a parade, band, cheerleaders and members of other school clubs.

They asked the district to consider waiting three weeks until after the statewide June 30 reopening date, when larger gatherings again will be allowed, but say they were told the plans were long-ago set and could not be postponed.

“I think the community is hurt and just puzzled by the refusal of the district to want to work with the community to have a public open house, or a public grand opening,” said Elisa Riley, a Prosser High alumna, lawyer and candidate for Prosser school board Director No. 3. “This should be a huge deal. It’s the largest bond ever passed in this community.”

COVID limited tickets

Prosser is the Benton County seat and has a population of just over 6,000.

Deanna Flores, an assistant superintendent, told the Tri-City Herald that the district is doing the best it can under the circumstances during the ongoing pandemic.

She said grand opening invitations went out to board members, some of the partners who helped with the project and committee members, different community groups and residents. Also, a small number of first-come, first-served tickets were made available to the public Friday, she added.

“Even if we wanted to have everyone there, we couldn’t because we don’t have room in the gym for 5,000 people,” said Flores, noting that the maximum capacity in the bleachers is 1,200.

“We’re proceeding forward and ... we will give the community plenty of opportunities as we can to see the building because we’re excited for people to see it, this great facility for our kids.”

The school district announced the grand opening last week on its website.

“Due to COVID restrictions, this is a ticketed event with a limited number of people allowed to attend,” the press release states. “The Prosser School District and the Board of Directors regrets that this event is not open to everyone, but we must follow the health department guidelines.”

The district encouraged community members to watch a live stream of the event on YouTube and said public tours will be available in August before the new school year.

‘Open to everybody’

Alys Freepons Means — a lifelong Prosser resident, 1980 high school graduate and current director of the Benton County Museum & Historical Society — says that isn’t good enough.

“I just think that a real, live, in-person community event for the people in the community who have made this happen is the way to go,” Means told the Herald on Friday. “I was offered a ticket, but I just feel like if it’s not open to everybody, I wouldn’t feel right about attending.”

Means said she was surprised to first learn about the grand opening in Wednesday’s edition of The Prosser Record-Bulletin.

She does not think anyone at the district “had malice in their heart” to exclude community members, but said they need to understand a lot of Prosser residents feel ownership in their schools — both financially and with personal experience.

She also took to the district’s Facebook page to comment on their decision to keep it a private event.

“A YouTube live stream — perhaps a well intentioned offer to the uninvited — does not lend itself to the kind of community building that could be accomplished by an in-person public event,” she wrote.

“Please understand that our community feels a high level of ownership for the new Prosser High School. A carefully planned public grand opening is a golden opportunity for everyone!”

Elementary remodels next

Prosser School District residents in Benton and Klickitat counties were asked in February 2017 to approve the construction bond “to relieve overcrowding and improve infrastructure and safety,” according to the bond’s pamphlet on the Benton County Auditor’s website.

It passed with 73% of the vote.

Prosser High currently has about 880 students. It was built nearly a century ago to house half the size of the current student body, and has been using several portable classrooms and a former church building for overflow.

The new campus took two years to design and then two years for construction. It was built with room to grow for 1,200 kids, said Flores.

While the district will take ownership of the building with Saturday’s ribbon-cutting, Flores said that Chervenell Construction still has 30 days to wrap things up.

Then, with the new high school construction complete, the focus will turn to remodeling Keene-Riverview and Prosser Heights elementary schools.

The 2020-21 school year ends June 18, with high school graduation the following day in the stadium.

Crews immediately will start moving furniture, equipment and supplies from the old high school over to the new site.

At the same time, the second-grade classrooms for Keene-Riverview and grades 3-5 at Prosser Heights will be moved to the old high school campus for the 2021-22 school year. The Riverview kindergartners and first-graders will remain since their area of the school already was updated.

Then, the plan next summer is to move those two schools back and start the renovation on Whitstran Elementary, with those students based at the old high school for one year.

Eventually, the soon-to-be former home of the Mustangs will become the school district office, with the historic portion of the building converted while other parts may be torn down.