Moses Lake school patrons get first look at construction options

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District patrons got their first look at the three options for a possible construction bond at a community meeting Tuesday. The bond would be offered to voters in February 2017.

Two additional meetings are scheduled this week, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Moses Lake Civic Center auditorium, 401 South Balsam St., and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, 900 East Yonezawa Blvd.

Steve McNutt and Brett Hardie of NAC Architecture, Spokane, detailed the options chosen by the Moses Lake School Board, after a lengthy deliberation process, at Tuesday's meeting.

New high school

The first option proposes a new, second high school for 1,600 students, a new elementary school for 450 students and upgrades to Moses Lake High School. The total cost was estimated at $135.3 million, with $111.4 million for the new high school, $19.5 million for the elementary school and $13.8 million for the upgrades to MLHS.

The property tax rate was estimated at $1.46 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A property owner whose land was assessed at $200,000 would pay an extra $292 in property taxes per year.

For all options, the district would be eligible for about $9.4 million in state assistance from the school construction fund.

The second high school would alleviate overcrowding at the secondary level for decades at the present projected level of growth. The two high schools wouldn’t reach capacity until 2055, McNutt said.

The new high school would be two stories, and would have a theater and sports facilities comparable to MLHS. It would not have a pool and the two schools would share Lions Field. Any further design decisions have been deferred, in part because the district is negotiating for a site.

Board chair Kevin Donovan said the board couldn’t disclose the two possible locations, since the possible sales are still in negotiation. The two sites are 60 and 55 acres respectively, and both are big enough for the building, parking and athletic fields. Both are on a major road (not necessarily the same major road). The 55-acre site has access roads on all sides, Hardie said, while the 60-acre site has an access road on one side.

Expanded Moses Lake High School

The second option would expand Moses Lake High School to a capacity of 2,500 students and build a new elementary school. Total project cost would be about $106.4 million, about $82.5 million for the MLHS expansion, another $13.8 million to upgrade the existing building, and about $19.5 million for the new elementary school.

McNutt estimated the tax impact at about $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A property owner with land assessed at $200,000 would pay an extra $220 per year in property taxes.

At a May 19 board workshop, the high school expansion was projected to cost about $64 million, and a person attending the meeting asked why the price had increased to $82.5 million. “The disparity is accounted for by the egg on my face,” McNutt said. He miscalculated the original estimate, he said.

The remodeling would include a two-story addition behind the existing high school, expanding the commons and the theater, adding a music room and building another gym. The plan includes about 300 additional parking spaces, with access from Yonezawa Boulevard.

The expanded MLHS would accommodate projected secondary growth through 2033, and is projected to be maxed out by 2043.

New eighth grade-freshman campus

The third option includes a new eighth grade-freshman campus for 1,500 students, converting MLHS to a 10-12 school, converting what is now Endeavor Middle School into an elementary school and expanding Sage Point and Park Orchard elementary schools to accommodate an additional 80 students each. Chief Moses and Frontier middle schools would be converted to sixth- and seventh-grade schools.

Estimated project cost is $108.6 million, about $97 million for the eighth grade-freshman campus, $7.2 million to convert Endeavor and expand Sage Point and Park Orchard, and $13.8 million in upgrades to MLHS.

The estimated impact on property owners would be $1.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A property owner with property appraised at $200,000 would pay an additional $226 per year in property taxes.

The eighth grade-freshman campus would be located on either the 60-acre or 55-acre property. Because there’s less need for athletic fields, some of the property would remain undeveloped. Endeavor would need remodeling because it was originally Columbia Basin Secondary School and was designed for intermediate and secondary classes.

A new eighth grade-freshman campus wouldn’t really solve the problem at the high school, which would still be at capacity under current enrollment projections, McNutt said. Moses Lake High School would max out around 2032.

It would solve a problem at the middle schools, however. The current three middle schools will be at capacity by 2020, and will max out about 2027, if projected enrollment trends are correct. The middle schools and eighth-ninth grade building wouldn’t reach capacity until 2030 and wouldn’t max out until 2045.

Current enrollment trends project continued growth, said assistant superintendent Josh Meek. The MLHS class of 2016 was 436 students, Meek said, and district officials are projecting the incoming kindergarten will have more than 700 students.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.