Othello facility committee makes recommendation
Cheryl Schweizer <Staff Writer> | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 3 months AGO
Cheryl Schweizer/Sun Tribune - Othello School District committee chair Ryan Frazier and committee members detailed their recommendations at the Othello School Board meeting Wednesday.
OTHELLO — Othello School Board members will hold a workshop at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 to discuss the recommendations of a committee tasked with reviewing facility needs in the Othello School District.
Committee members presented their report at the Dec. 19 school board meeting, after two months of discussion and research. The recommendations will work whether or not the district continues with a plan to convert the four existing elementary schools and McFarland Middle School to kindergarten through eighth grade. Currently the elementary schools are kindergarten through sixth grade, and MMF houses seventh and eighth grades, and the district’s preschool program. “Whether it’s K-6 or K-8, this list applies for both,” said committee chair Ryan Frazier.
Committee members were asked to come up with two recommendations. Cost estimate for the first option is $30 million, but that doesn’t include the costs of a separate preschool, Frazier said. The estimate does include costs associated with construction, called “soft costs.” The second option was estimated at $53 million. Both lists prioritized the proposed projects.
The first option included new gyms at Lutacaga, Hiawatha and Scootney Springs elementary schools, 21 revamped classrooms at Othello High School, additional food storage at the three elementary schools and Desert Oasis High School, a central warehouse for food storage and a separate preschool facility. The first option also included a second set of locker rooms at OHS and 24 permanent classrooms at the district’s existing elementary schools. In answer to a question from board member Ken Johnson, Frazier said the elementary classrooms would replace the existing portables. If the decision is made to keep the preschool at MMS, that building would need six new classrooms.
The second option includes everything in the first option, although some of the projects in the first option would be rolled into projects added to the second option. The second option would add a multipurpose room at each elementary school, a 1,500-seat auditorium at OHS, a second competition gym at OHS (which would include the locker rooms proposed in the first option), music rooms and improved PE facilities at the elementary schools, a new staff lounge at Hiawatha and a conference room at Wahitis.
The committee was proposed in August and formed in September, in the wake of a report on the possible costs associated with a K-8 conversion. The bill was an estimated $32 million, not including any provisions for growth. That prompted school board members to form the facility committee to look at space needs for a conversion, and over the next five years.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.
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ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER <STAFF WRITER>
Othello School Board approves property purchase
OTHELLO — The Othello School Board has approved an agreement to purchase 81.14 acres of land along 14th Street and Lee Road. The district will pay $2.4 million to the current owner, Terra Gold Farms. The draft agreement was approved during the regular board meeting Monday. The land is located at Lee Road between Seventh and 14th streets. Assistant superintendent Gina Bullis said there are no plans to build on the property now, but district officials plan to keep it as a site for any additional schools. The sale should be completed by the end of January. In other business, a discussion of a site visit to Wahitis Elementary prompted questions about traffic on 14th Street. Construction closed part of 14th Street during the spring, summer and fall, including the stretch in front of Wahitis Elementary. Prior to construction the road had a four-way stop outside Scootney Springs Elementary, but the stop signs were removed during construction and haven’t been replaced. Board member Juan Garza said he had received inquiries about the stop signs, and whether they would be reinstalled. “It sounds to me like they (the stop sign removals) are permanent, right? It’s going to stay that way.” Bullis said she had received inquiries too, and had asked city officials about them, including a question at the Othello City Council meeting earlier Monday evening. City manager Wade Faris told her, Bullis said, the city wasn’t required to reinstall them. The original purpose was to eliminate some of the congestion on 14th, Cemetery and Ash streets when kids and parents were coming and going from Scootney Springs. City officials think the extra lanes will accommodate any congestion, she said. Board member Mike Garza said the stop signs were installed as the result of a traffic study conducted by the district at the city’s request. He asked if the city had done an additional traffic study prior to removal. Bullis said city officials didn’t give a reason for the change. Mike Garza also asked if city officials planned to paint crosswalks across 14th Street at Wahitis Elementary. “I noticed there are no crosswalk designations across 14th” at the school, he said. Bullis said she would ask city officials.
Othello School District land purchase moves ahead
OTHELLO — The Othello School Board is scheduled to review a draft purchase and sale agreement for 78 acres of property along Lee Road at its Oct. 10 meeting.
Othello School Board discusses 14th Street with city officials
OTHELLO — Traffic, traffic flow and pedestrian safety, especially for elementary students, were the subjects of a lengthy discussion at the Othello School Board meeting Monday.