‘Agricultural core values’ would be the heart of Tri-Cities’ 1st proposed K-8 school
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- Pasco plans a rebuild of Edwin Markham into K-8 school pending 2028 bond.
- New building would add programs to serve rural farm families and reduce transport demand.
- The project cost would be about $43.6M with $10M state aid.
The Tri-Cities’ first public school to combine elementary and middle school students under one roof could become a reality in the coming years.
In its recently updated long-term facility management plan, the Pasco School District is considering a concept to rebuild and expand Edwin Markham Elementary School to include middle school kids and facilities geared toward those older students.
Built in 1962, Markham is among the district’s oldest and most rural school building.
It’s 17 miles north of the Pasco city limits, at 4031 Elm Road, and serves more than 230 students. That’s the fewest of any Pasco elementary building.
The move would reduce transportation demands for middle school families and the district, build on an already strong agricultural community and reduce overcrowding at its feeder school, Ray Reynolds Middle School.
It would also keep more secondary students enrolled in Pasco schools.
Some families in rural Franklin County opt to enroll their students in smaller neighboring school districts, such as North Franklin School District.
Superintendent Michelle Whitney said in recent years they’ve had initial discussions with school staff and families about the idea. Support came after the district formally requested $400,000 from the Washington Legislature for a feasibility study.
Agriculture core values
The Edwin Markham school is steeped in history and tradition, Whitney told the Herald.
The change represents an opportunity to offer a tailored experience to farm students and invest in aligning the school’s offerings with the community’s values.
“I hope what people are seeing there is a strong commitment from the district to really amplify and uphold our agriculture core values, which I think is a really unique part of our community and one that should be amplified and really celebrated,” she said.
Whitney said a new K-8 Markham would include both elementary and middle school students in the same building but in separate areas.
Middle school students there would still get the same extracurricular and program offerings as other Pasco middle schools, such as band and sports.
But the effort to expand Markham would be contingent on passage of a yet-to-be-proposed 2028 bond measure to pay for construction of a new facility.
The project would cost about $43.6 million, with at least $10 million covered by the state’s School Construction Assistance Program.
The timeline for construction depends on bond passage, but would likely be less than two years. The latest it would open on that timeline is 2030. It would be the first public site to operate both an elementary and middle school in one building.
Aging Pasco schools, slower enrollment
The district’s revised facilities plan charts the course of more than $500 million worth of major school improvements through 2040, and details which projects could go on future bond proposals. The plan was updated during a public process this year and was approved last month by the school board.
Two new schools opened this fall, funded by a $196 million bond measure passed by voters in 2023, to help ease enrollment at the high school level.
Sageview High School is the district’s third comprehensive high school, and Orion High School is a new choice college and career academy.
The district’s oldest school facilities were built in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and are showing their age.
The 35,000-square-foot Markham building is the oldest in the district that hasn’t been remodeled. Its boundaries stretch from Ringold point east to the Juniper Dunes.
Pasco High School, originally built in 1953, has been renovated and added onto three times since 1996. And the 1955-built Mark Twain Elementary was remodeled once in 1998.
But there are other older schools that haven’t undergone major renovations, including Livingston Elementary (built in 1977), McGee Elementary (1981) and McLoughlin Middle School (1982).
Those three, as well as Markham, are in the district’s long-term plan as having “urgent needs.”
But the district also has been on a building spree.
Since 2000, two-thirds of its current slate of school buildings have either been rebuilt, remodeled or are new additions.
Whitney said this new plan shifts the district’s strategy around facilities, from easing crowded classes and portables to modernizing its oldest facilities.
Pasco schools grew rapidly for many years, but a new reality is kicking in that shows enrollment growth tapering.
An analysis conducted by Eastern Washington University shows Pasco will grow only by about 400 students total over the next 10 years.
Before the COVID pandemic hit, Pasco schools would sometimes add hundreds of new students each fall.
While new facilities immediately help overcrowding at high schools this fall, the district’s middle schools still remain slightly over capacity. The plan doesn’t call for the district to pursue funding for a new middle school until 2040.
A winter 2025 school building survey showed both Reynolds and McLoughlin each about 150 students over capacity. Markham was about 50 students under capacity.
The school board will have the final say on whether to go ahead with putting the project on a 2028 bond.
