
The Puyallup School Board has been asked to consider
reducing the scope of the Pope Elementary expansion bond project in order to fund
a 12 classroom addition to Hunt Elementary. The Pope remodel and expansion
would become a 32 homeroom building, instead of the current plan for 44
homerooms.
The Bond Oversight Committee was commissioned to oversee and
make recommendations to the board regarding the implementation of the 2015
voter approved $292.5 million School Construction and Facility Improvements
bond measure with respect to scope, schedule, and cost of the projects. The
committee charter states the committee will make periodic reports to the board
as to the progress of the bond program and make recommendations as to any
changes to the baseline of the scope of work.
The report to the board on November 7 by Gary Frentress,
executive director of capital projects, on behalf of the Bond Oversight
Committee, cited several advantages and benefits to the proposed changes to
Pope and Hunt. The cost savings are estimated to be 2.8 million dollars.
In line with the current boundary review study, the changes
will disperse students more evenly among the elementary schools in the area. Frentress
sighted a key advantage to the committee recommendation is that it helps keep
kids in their neighborhood. Hunt will be able to house more students who may
have been reassigned to a much larger 44 homeroom building at Pope.
“There are challenges with the footprint of the planned
larger school on the Pope site,” reported Frentress. Expanded parking
requirements and increased traffic on the already congested roads surrounding
Pope will potentially present challenges to parents and the community.
The Pope project is scheduled to begin in January 2017 with
completion in 2020. The Hunt classroom addition would begin in the summer of
2017 and be completed in one year. The same 12 classroom addition currently
being constructed at Shaw Road Elementary will be used for Hunt since the
buildings have the same floor plan.
Ten portables currently housed at Hunt would become
available in 2018 to support growth and class size reduction goals in other
schools throughout the district.
The next Bond Oversight Committee report to the School Board
is scheduled during the regularly scheduled board meeting on November 21, at
6:00 p.m. at Kalles Junior High.
The committee will continue to meet regularly to review the
bond projects with the next bond oversight meeting scheduled in December. Chief
Operations Officer, Mario Casello, who facilitates the Bond Oversight
Committee, stated “the work that this committee is focused on will benefit the
district for years and years to come. We are excited about the commitment and
passion of the committee members and their dedication to the success of our
staff and students! Their time and effort is much appreciated.”
The approved bond projects allow the district to replace
Firgrove, Northwood, and Sunrise elementary schools, remodel and expand Pope
Elementary, and build a new elementary school on undeveloped district-owned
property on 144th Street near 80th Avenue, west of
Meridian.