Part 2: Enclosing Columbia High will improve safety, usability; passing WSVSD bond would create unified K-12 campus

It calls for decommissioning Whitson Elementary and remodeling the Henkle Middle School / Whitson Primary Intermediate School (HMS / WPSIS). Columbia High School (CHS) will be updated as well. Built in 1970 — and designed by an architect out of Southern California — the school is made up of multiple buildings.

In part 1, Columbia Gorge News examined the sizable needs at the elementary school, a 75-year-old building at the end of its usable life. WSVSD intends to keep Whitson as a community asset, decided through a public process several years down the line. Now, we explore the challenges at CHS and planned improvements to HMS / WPSIS.

Columbia High School

When Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn came to the district in 2023, he heard “loud and clear” from community members, staff and students that facility improvements should be prioritized in the strategic plan, including CHS.

The current design of the high school means students walk between classes outdoors in all weather — and up and down some steep elevation changes between buildings. Polkinghorn described CHS as unsecure and disconnected.

“We have a lot of space,” he said. “The idea, at least with the school, is to bring it together so it’s a little more centralized and contained.”

Architects spent considerable time at CHS, and revisions have incorporated community feedback to a conceptional design that will create a more continuous and efficient school configuration, with a connected shop, library, and new commons area.

“Columbia has some significant challenges with the terrain or elevations, and so [architects] spent a lot of time at Columbia, sort of thinking about and looking at how they could make that campus accommodate two more grade levels, while also improving the security of the facility,” he said. “I think they’ve taken advantage of the terrain in a thoughtful way.”

It would also include seismic updates — the CHS gym ranks as one the top needs in the state — and ADA upgrades. The enclosed campus, complete with fencing and gates, will prevent unauthorized access during school hours.

The middle school gym would serve middle school PE classes and athletics, so they aren't competing for space in the high school's gym, Polkinghorn said; additionally, the road running adjacent to the proposed gym — and behind the high school campus — would be gated to improve student and staff safety.

“Right now, the road goes from the south side of campus, around the back of the school and connects to the gym," Polkinghorn said. “People are using this road more and more, even during the school day. This is an obvious safety hazard and something we’ll address within the scope of the bond.”

As with Whitson, CHS has electrical and HVAC issues. “They didn’t have centralized heat in the original build, so they added what’s called room ventilators,” Polkinghorn said. “They’re very inefficient and a very loud way of heating. Production stopped on the room ventilators soon after the school was built, so, same thing on the maintenance side with parts, trying to find the parts for them. It’s a struggle. Sometimes our maintenance team is machining parts for them, which creates all kinds of added workload and inefficiencies.”

HMS/WPSIS

Moving Whitson to the HMS/WPSIS and creating a one campus, two school model also means remodeling the current intermediate / middle school. Architects looked at enrollment trends and available space and added three full kindergarten classrooms.

“Kindergarten rooms were chosen to be the addition because of the need for bathrooms inside those rooms — and building new classrooms with bathrooms in mind versus trying to retrofit old bathrooms seemed to make the most sense,” Polkinghorn said.

Conceptual plans of the CHS and HMS/WPSIS redesigns are available on the district’s website, www.wsvsd.org.

“I think with this bond, we can really bring the current high school and middle school campuses up to a new standard … so when our community drives by, they see beautiful schools and there’s a source of pride,” Polkinghorn said.

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Columbia Gorge News will look at available School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) funding, available this year only, in part three of this series.