OTHELLO - Othello School Board members cut the ribbon and officially opened the brand new Wahitis Elementary School Monday evening.

"Twelve months ago this was farm ground," said assistant superintendent Gina Bullis.

Board chair Rob Simmons said people asked him, before the building was completed, if it was really necessary. When he was elected the district had 13 portable classrooms at its elementary buildings, Simmons said. District patrons approved a bond in 2006, which was designed to get rid of those portables, and the remodeling at all the elementary schools got kids into classrooms, he said.

But the district kept growing and it looked like those portables might make a comeback, Simmons said. However, the combination of money left from the bond and lower construction costs allowed the district to build a new building to accommodate the additional kids, he said.

Superintendent George Juarez said there were a lot of people who deserved thanks for the new building, starting with district voters who approved the 2006 bond. District officials were able to go beyond the original scope of that proposal and build a new building without going back to the voters, he said.

Wahitis Elementary is known as the Hawks, and Principal Pete Perez paid tribute to district employee Jesse Rodelo, who painted the hawk logo on the gym floor. Ceramic artist Betty Johanson created two tile relief sculptures, one depicting a hawk, the other natural elements around Othello. Puget Sound-area artist Susan Aurand built the sculptures on the wall down the main hallway.

Representatives of the architect, the contractor, bond company and project managers also were recognized by district officials.