EVERETT — Enrollment growth now and down the road has Everett School District leaders looking for answers to a tricky and pricey problem.
Where, they wonder, will they find room for the more than 1,500 additional students expected during the next decade?
Over the next eight days, the district is hosting five public meetings to discuss overcrowding. They begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Evergreen Middle School.
Space could grow particularly tight in the high schools.
On the table are various options: more portables to the 106 already in place; adjusting boundaries from south northward, sending some Henry M. Jackson students to Cascade High and Cascade students to Everett High; double-shifting students; a year-round calendar or building a fourth large high school.
Nothing has been decided, said Leanna Albrecht, district spokeswoman. The sessions this week and next will describe the challenges ahead and gather thoughts on what should be done.
“We are just looking for long-term solutions,” she said.
The district expects to enroll roughly 1,675 more students over the next 10 years with most of the growth in the south end.
In a March presentation, the district said it could place a bond measure on the 2018 ballot to build a fourth large high school with an estimated $189 million price tag. Bonds require 60 percent voter approval.
The district passed a nearly $150 million bond in 2016. That is paying for a new elementary school in the district’s south end, to buy land for another school, to renovate North Middle School and Woodside Elementary, to replace the fields at Everett High School and the roof at Gateway Middle, and to upgrade the heating and air conditioning at eight schools, among other projects. It also allows the district to buy 14 portable classrooms to accommodate expected growth at Cascade and Henry M. Jackson high schools.
If it makes the ballot and voters approve it, a new high school could be built on property the district bought for its 18th elementary school. That land is on the southern border of the district off 180th Street SE and 46th Street.
As it stands, Jackson High School already has 14 portable classrooms and three more are scheduled to be placed there this summer. Over the next six years, without any other changes, there are expected to be a total of 30 portables on that campus.
Other dates and locations for public meetings to learn about enrollment issues are Thursday at North Middle School; Monday at Einsenhower Middle School; May 3 at Heatherwood Middle School and May 4 at Gateway Middle School. All sessions begin at 7 p.m.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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