GRANITE FALLS — A bond measure to update the middle school and add a grandstand at the high school could be in front of voters as soon as February.
The Granite Falls School District Board of Directors is putting together a bond proposal. It’s in the early stages of planning, spokeswoman Melanie Freeman said. Designs have not been made final and no amount has been set for the bond. The school board had a study session last week.
The bond would pay for two projects. One would add a full grandstand at the high school sports field and track. The other would modernize the middle school to keep up with an increasing selection of classes.
Granite Falls High School opened in January 2008. The $43 million project was paid for with $11 million in state money and $32 million in bonds that voters approved in 2005. The field and track were built at that time, but a grandstand was not.
Over the past few years, the district has done about $1.5 million in improvements at the track and field. In 2013 and 2014, workers put in lighting, a press box and scoreboard. A concession stand, restrooms, ticket booth and bleacher seating for 500 people were put in this year. Most of the features are permanent and would remain in place once a new grandstand was built with the exception of the temporary bleachers, which likely would be moved to another location where seating is needed, Freeman said.
Plans for the grandstand include locker rooms for players, a team tunnel leading onto the field, storage areas and covered seating, including wheelchair accessible spaces, for up to 2,020 spectators.
People are buzzing about the changes at the field and track but are less familiar with the proposal for updating the middle school, said EB Holderman, outgoing district spokeswoman.
At Granite Falls Middle School, more electives are being offered so the 410 students there can explore career options and learn real-world skills, Freeman said. The list of new classes includes forensics, environmental science, digital media and communications, and a family and consumer science curriculum that features culinary arts, textiles and home economics. Engineering, design and manufacturing also are among the courses meant to give students a leg up with major employers such as Boeing.
Updating the middle school, which previously was the town’s high school, would mean overhauling classrooms to accommodate the technology, equipment and learning areas needed for those courses, Freeman said. Those designs, like the grandstand, still are being drafted. Ideas from the public are welcome.
If a bond measure were passed in February, work could be done by summer 2018, Freeman said.
The district has one other outstanding bond, and that’s for the high school. Bonds to build the elementary schools have been paid off. Bonds require a 60 percent supermajority to pass.
An online survey is planned and more information is expected to be shared online at gfalls.wednet.edu, including the presentation given to the school board about these projects.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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