Committee meets to consider new high school plan

Higgins told the 20 people present that their job was to look at the big picture and not get bogged down in design details.

The citizen group — which anyone can join — is tasked with coming up with a concept for a new high school as North Wasco County School District 21 plans to ask voters in November to approve a 50-year bonding authority of up to $235 million, to replace or renovate every school in the district.

The bond authority would allow the district to build new schools, on a schedule of one every five years, without going to voters each time. The cost over the 50-year lifetime of the bonding authority would not exceed $2.99 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Talk is of replacing the high school, all three elementaries, building an early learning center, replacing Mosier School and renovating the middle school.

The current high school has 153,000 square feet. Higgins agreed that a new high school, roughly estimated to cost $64 million, could be designed at 160,000 square feet, to include some programs and elements that are now placed elsewhere, such as some programs at Wahtonka Community School.

A year ago, a districtwide facilities planning process — also done by a citizen committee and led by Higgins — concluded that replacing the high school was the top priority. Putting it on the Wahtonka site was also the top recommendation.

One idea that has been floated by school board members is having part of the campus on the hillside across the street from the Wahtonka campus, on property that now includes the district’s administrative offices.

The other part would be on the Wahtonka site, and the two would be connected by a skybridge.

School board member John Nelson said if the concept of a skybridge is introduced, it is important to know the cost and value of that and the proposal is to gain more space for sports fields on the Wahtonka site.

Higgins said, “You’re going to build a bridge that has very little instructional value, but it’s going to come out of the” construction budget.

However, he said he would incorporate the idea of the skybridge option into the elements of the next master planning meeting.

School board member Ernie Blatz said there could also be the option of putting a tunnel under West 10th Street to connect the two elements of the future campus. “Either way, it’s going to cost,” he said, but he was just listing options.

Nelson asked about student safety aspects of a skybridge and Higgins said it could be enclosed, it could even have doors on it to create a lockdown situation on the bridge itself.

Higgins said that safety and security features in schools have become “so out of proportion now that for us it’s a nightmare.” Security and safety measures include electrical, low-voltage and architectural elements, and are very hard to do, he said.

Later, Higgins said there are many benefits to building at the Wahtonka site, since it is flat and already has utilities. The current high school sits on just four acres, and the Wahtonka site, which includes Wahtonka, the sports fields, and Chenowith Elementary, is 49 acres.

Last year’s facilities planning committee envisioned schools with an emphasis on safety, security, and flexibility, that are maintainable, durable and serve as a community resource and a source of community pride.

The committee also wanted learning-centered schools, which means classroom space that allows for student collaboration, since research shows that’s how kids learn best, Higgins said.

At the high school, most of the classrooms are small, at just 650 square feet. A more adequate size is considered 900 feet. The new ones would have larger space, but this committee is not concerning itself with that level of detail. Rather, this group will spend its next meeting, on March 21, dividing into three groups. Each group will have to-scale “puzzle pieces” that represent the elements of the school, such as various classroom spaces, performing arts, student services, PE/athletics, and administration.

Each group will develop a concept of how the school would be organized on the building site. Higgins envisions a two-story building and said a one-story building would be a tight fit on the property. The current high school has a basement and two other floors.

On April 12, the committee will settle on a single concept, to be forwarded to the school board for final vetting before promoting it to voters.

Considerations for orienting buildings on campus can include having buildings serve as a wind- break for athletic fields, and aligning them to take advantage of sunlight.

Higgins envisions the new school would have 46 teaching stations, with 30 students per classroom.

The finer details of how precisely the high school would be designed, such as the actual size of classrooms, would not be addressed until a bond is passed. That work would fall to a design advisory group, which would meet for at least three years, Higgins said.

“We are not gonna design a school,” Higgins told the group. “We are gonna design a concept.”

One committee member, Stace Shaw, suggested including students in the master planning committee. She asked students earlier what they’d like in a new school, and they said good heating – and more importantly, good cooling – adequate parking and wider staircases.

The next meeting is Wednesday, March 21, from 6-8 p.m., at Fairfield Inn’s conference room, 2014 W. Seventh St.

The district asks that people attending the master planning committee commit to at least three meetings. Those interested are asked to contact Cindy Miller at millerc@nwasco.k12.or.us.