Symposium starts facilities planning

Construction in district three years out if '06 bond passes

MOSES LAKE — After a two-day facilities planning symposium for the Moses Lake School District last week, one common agreement among attendees and district administration is this: There has to be community input.

"In order for this to happen, it's not going to be a school district project but a community project," said P.J. De Benedetti, special assistant to the superintendent for the MLSD.

The symposium brought 75 people from area businesses, schools, Big Bend Community College and architects with LSW Visioning out of Vancouver to discuss needs and wants for the future of the MLSD.

Growth pressures in the next six years will mean a student enrollment increase of nearly 780, and that combined with county growth means the district needs to start planning now, said LSW educational planner Jim Parsley.

In a three-day period last week, Parsley and other architects toured MLSD facilities, taking pictures, talking with school district employees and city planners and surveying available school and land development space.

From that analysis of the district and city, Parsley estimated that in the next 20 years MLSD will see student enrollment increase by 46 percent with at least three new elementary schools needed by 2025 and the construction of a third middle school shortly after 2010.

Due to a lack of significant growth currently at the high school, Parsley estimates overcrowding will be an issue by 2015.

Restructuring high school parking, alleviating crowding in the commons, considering a pool enclosure and contemplating the possibility of a ninth-grade campus or second high school will be necessary by that time, Parsley said.

Criticisms of the district's current facilities focused on the location of special education staff offices, the transportation department and administration offices that are spread out in various locations.

"You can tell they weren't the highest priorities of the district," Parsley said.

Paul Dennis with the Cascade Planning Group out of Camas said over the next six to 10 years there will be between 1,500 to 1,700 housing units within the school district's service area, some of which already exist and others that have yet to be developed.

Discussion of national and international trends in business such as going from an industrial to information age and global marketplace, and the effects that will have on education were also discussed.

"Those without special skills in this future will face long hours and low pay," Parsley said.

In round table discussions, a seven-page list was compiled with input from symposium attendees. That input calls for everything from new school facilities that also offer community services for athletics or social functions to addressing needs at current school buildings, creating multi-use spaces, offering more opportunities for the arts and sciences, strengthening business partnerships and enhancing technology capabilities.

The last series of major capital projects the district had completed were in 1994 after a $30 million bond passed the year before.

Several million dollars in state matching funds further contributed towards the costs of the renovation projects which included remodels of 11 of the district's 12 schools, the construction of Columbia Basin Secondary School, installation of a pool at Moses Lake High School and the purchase of 14 portable classrooms.

Attendee Jodi West came to the second day planning session and voiced her concerns about not seeing more community members at the symposium.

There are many of the same people here that usually get involved in community planning activities and there should be others as well, West said.

Moses Lake High School alumni Lew Mason gave praise for the education he and his children received through the MLSD and hopes educational opportunities will expand and improve with newer facilities. "I'd like to see that available for everybody."

Parsley said LSW Visioning plans to have a final report on the symposium in a few weeks which will then be sent to the school district.

"This is about kids, their future, the heart and soul of education," Parsley said.