Tahoma School Board members and district construction managers and architect tour the site where the new secondary school will be built, on Summit-Landsburg Road.
Lower-than-expected bids for construction of the new secondary school have opened the door to exciting changes for the Tahoma School District.
Not only will the school district have enough money to build the new school as planned, it also will have funds to create a new grade alignment that is designed to reflect changes in the school district's population that were not anticipated when voters approved construction bonds in 1997.
Aldrich & Associates of Seattle will build the new secondary school on Summit-Landsburg Road, winning the job with a low bid of $16,193,100, which is more than $3 million less than estimated. The school is scheduled to open in September 2001 to grades 8 and 9.
When the 2002-03 school year begins, Tahoma's four elementary schools will house grades kindergarten-through-five. Grades six and seven will be at Cedar River Middle School and Tahoma Junior High. Grades 8 and 9 will be housed at the new secondary school.
The decision to house Grade 8 along with Grade 9 at the new school is fueled by recent demographic reports that indicate student population growth is slowing. Instead of building a 600-student ninth-grade school as planned, the district looked at an option to expand the school to 1,000 students and house both eighth and ninth grades.
By getting lower-than-expected bids, the grade alignment can be completed with available funds. Taxpayers are getting more for their dollar than what was anticipated when voters approved the bonds in 1997.
"I couldn't be more pleased," said Gary Habenicht, chairman of the Tahoma 2000 Oversight Committee, a citizen committee that monitors the district's bond projects. "The decision by the district to seriously review student population growth indicators, I think, was critical to the wise and proper expenditure of taxpayer money represented by the 1997 bond."
The new alignment will offer several advantages. There will be more room at elementary schools to absorb future growth, which means there is no need to build a fifth elementary school in the next few years. It also frees up space that could be used to reduce class sizes.
For grades six and seven, the realignment will give teachers an opportunity to focus sixth-grade students on curriculum that is in line with the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test that is given in Grade 7.
"By having the sixth and seventh grade teachers together in same building, it will enhance communication, support for kids who are not performing well, identify kids in need of interventions and basically just help us monitor our programs more closely," said Nancy Skerritt, assistant superintendent.
Combining grades six and seven also should help ease the transition for sixth graders, Skerritt said. Instead of the jolt of moving from one teacher per school day to six, students will probably be on a schedule that features three or four class periods.
Having grades 8 and 9 in the same building also is an advantage, Skerritt said, because it provides opportunities for eighth grade students to get a head start on high school classes in math and foreign language, if they are ready for that challenge.
Tahoma Junior High Principal Rob Morrow and Cedar River Principal Ron Thiele said having all eighth and ninth grade students in the same building helps the overall program because it is much easier to coordinate if students are in the same building. The current configuration splits the eighth grade class between two schools.
Another advantage will be seen when renovation work begins at Tahoma Junior High, the district's oldest and most historic building. Instead of having to renovate the building while classes are being held there, students can be moved to the new school and Cedar River so that the junior high building can be unoccupied during renovation. That saves construction costs, too.
The favorable construction bid will free up funds to pay for facilities at the new school and Cedar River Middle School that otherwise would have been eliminated to save construction costs. Among those are an all-weather running track and gymnasium bleachers at the new school, an auxiliary gymnasium and a weight room at Cedar River.
"This allows us to build a first-class academic facility," said Morrow, who will be principal at the new secondary school. Morrow said there is also an opportunity to create athletic fields that can be used by the students and the community at the new site. King County Parks and Recreation Department has included the site on its development list. If the county approves a sale of development bonds, the Summit school site will receive county assistance to build athletic fields.