Symposium to look at future needs of school facilities

Growth in schools and community push school district to find more space

MOSES LAKE — It has been several years since the Moses Lake School District has held a formal facility planning meeting.

For two days starting Sept. 28 and ending Sept. 30, the district will convene with community members and guest speaker Dr. Jim Parsley in round table discussions about what the facility needs of the district are.

Parsley is a retired superintendent from Vancouver and now works with an architect firm doing facility planning and will be a facilitator at the symposium.

The purpose is to talk about long range facility planning, including the school district maintenance and transportation departments and improving partnerships with the community, said MLSD Superintendent Steve Chestnut. "We have about 25 portable classrooms at the elementary level, so that's an example of growth we've experienced."

Chestnut explained that by the end of the second day, a rough draft should be written up as to the next steps the district should take.

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

Fifty million 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.

The symposium will be held at the Advanced Technologies Education Center at Big Bend Community College from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 28 and 8 to 10 a.m. Sept. 30. Call 766-2650 x2720 or x2724 to RSVP for the event.