By CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE

Staff Writer

MOSES LAKE — As Groff Elementary school is beginning to take shape and site preparation is beginning for the new high school, Moses Lake School District is looking at delaying a decision on whether to build a 12th elementary school.

“It would be a good decision to wait and see, as we’re seeing some enrollment declines,” said Superintendent Josh Meek during an online meeting of the Moses Lake School Board on Thursday.

As a result of the 2017 school construction bond, which the board revised in early 2019 after a series of contentious public hearings, the school district has roughly $171 million in planned capital projects to be paid for by $135 million in bonds, $28.2 million in state aid, and about $12 million in additional revenue from property sales and a previous general fund transfer.

The projects include:

— $27.4 million to build Groff Elementary School (offset by $4 million in state aid);

— $68 million for the new, 900-student high school between Moses Lake School and the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, currently referred to as “Real World Academy” (offset by an estimated $21.1 million in state aid);

— $14 million in renovations to Moses Lake High School;

— $12.8 million in various non-bond projects (such as relocating and remodeling the MLHS auto tech program, purchasing and renovating the district’s new Pioneer Way offices, and connecting Longview Elementary to the city’s sewer system);

— and an estimated $30.2 million for a 12th elementary school.

The original bond called for the construction of a second, 1,600-student high school, and the district purchased land from the county at the corner of West Valley Drive and Paxson Street for the new high school.

However, after a year-long court battle over the certification of the bond vote, as well as the election of school board members Elliott Goodrich and Vickey Melcher, both of whom were opposed to the second high school, the district voted to revamp the bond plan and instead build a smaller, 900-student high school and two elementary schools.

Meek told board members that statewide, elementary school enrollment fell 15 percent this year, with MLSD seeing enrollment fall a bit more.

According to data provided by MLSD to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the district budgeted for total kindergarten enrollment of 625 for the 2020-21 school year but only counted an average enrollment of 540 for September and October.

For first grade, the district budgeted for 659 students but only counted an average of 620 for the first two months of the school year.

Enrollment does rise, however, and tracks much closer to budget expectations in the higher grades, with the district reporting enrolling more sophomores and seniors this fall than budgeted.

Because of that, board member Elliott Goodrich said the district needs to re-evaluate when, or even if, the 12th elementary school is needed.

At stake is just how much of the $135 million authorized under the 2017 construction bond will be needed. Currently, the district has sold $50 million in bonds, with $85 million remaining if needed.

“Our community deserves us having a clear picture,” Goodrich said. “Just because you have bonding authority doesn’t mean you have to use it.”

Meek said the capital plan as laid out calls for regular revisions and cautioned board members that with several major businesses preparing to set up shop in Moses Lake, any decision on the fate of Elementary School 12 is “premature.”

“We need to figure out the reason for the decline. We’re all assuming this is COVID-19-related,” Meek said, adding that figuring out elementary enrollment would take some “deep data work.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at creatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.