The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

This week, local students went from attending some of the worst school facilities in the state to attending the newest, largest and most high-tech K-12 school building in Washington.

K-12 is now actually a misnomer, since the district has added preschool to the mix after the plans were initially drawn up with what the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction prescribed to be an 800-student capacity building. OSPI’s formula for determining this is the essential equivalent of a ruler following the last known direction, in this case downward. It doesn’t seem to take into account possible population growth or demographic changes due to shifts in dominant industry, such as retirements and younger replacements at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Still, with 101,000 square feet, or 2.31 acres under one roof, the new gem in the coulee should serve us well for a long time.

School board members can take a big pat on the back now, for having done a good job back in 2010, when they hired the right man to oversee the project, Dr. Dennis Carlson, the Grand Coulee Dam School District superintendent.

With a state allocation of $31.5 million, the project will come in at about $29.5 million. The remainder will accomplish sorely needed repairs to the older aspects of the campus. The tennis courts surface will be repaired; the remainder of the old high school will get a new roof and siding to match the new school. If there’s anything left, the school board will discuss how to spend it.

Projects like this don’t often come in under budget. And while Carlson did take the job as interest rates and construction bidding were low, it seems likely that prudent oversight, and no small amount of cajoling contractors, has been a factor in success.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher