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ACH CONNECTION New ACH High School to
Open in 2008 A
new ACH High School is to be built in Coulee City adjacent to the existing
elementary building. Plans call for construction to begin late this summer
and for the building to be open for students in the fall of 2008 After
the high school in Hartline received extensive water damage, the Grant County
Building Inspector officially notified us that the school would have to meet
several safety code requirements when it is repaired. Rather than spend the
money to repair the high school, the school board decided to consider other
alternatives. The
Almira and Coulee City School Boards agreed to reconfigure the cooperative to
have the middle school students attend in Almira and the high school moved to
Coulee City. Both Almira and Coulee City will continue to have grades K-5. In
order to determine the best place for the high school in Coulee City, a
Facilities Committee was formed. No new taxes will be
required to build this school. All
funds come from current reserves, the Lauzier Grant and the State of
Washington. CONCEPT
PLAN This
drawing shows the most recent draft of what our new building could look
like. Changes will likely be made
between now and the time construction starts. The lower part of the drawing
is the current Coulee City Building; the top is the new building
proposal. Some space in the middle
(i.e., the cafeteria) will be shared.
The
Facilities Committee The committee, consisting
of 15 teachers, administrators, citizens and board members, was created in
the spring of 2006. There have been a few changes since it was originally
organized, but current committee members are: Terry Cosentino Bob Dove Harold Evans Edward Fisk Allan Fox Shawn Groh Steve Heathman Brian Isaak Chris Jorgensen Bob Martin Howard McDonald Kevin Prather Kelley Schafer Richard Spurbeck Brenda Thomas Dean Thompson Key decisions the committee
has made to date include the following: ·
To hire the
architectural Firm of Architects West ·
To build the
new school as an addition to the current Coulee City School ·
To apply for
90% state matching funds for the new high school. (The state has since approved the
cooperative agreement and our request for 90% matching funds). ·
To move the bus
garage to the site of the old middle school in order to make room for the
high school to be added to the current Coulee City School All decisions of the
committee are only recommendations to the Board of Education. The Board has
approved the above recommendations.
The committee will continue to meet during the course of this project
and will be working with the architects and engineers to make the best
possible decisions for our district. STATE
FUNDING APPROVAL When the Coulee-Hartline
and Almira Boards of Education decided to build a new high school, we learned
that there is a state law that allows cooperative districts to receive up to
90% state matching money for a cooperative school. We applied, and in December, 2006, the Office
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction approved our request. If we had
not applied as a cooperative and received the 90% matching rate, the
Coulee-Hartline District would have received only about 45% of the total cost
from the state. This is the first time a cooperative has been approved for
90% matching funds in the state of Washington. The information that follows
came directly from the state approval form. (2006 RATES)
*All of the above figures
are based upon the current (2006) state allocation of $154.22 per square foot
of new construction. This figure is
normally adjusted by the legislature each year. We anticipate the 2007 figure
to be near $160.00 per square foot. Contingencies and other costs not matched
are only estimates. We will not know
actual costs until we open bids. SOURCES
OF LOCAL FUNDS CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND $ 600,000 LAUZIER GRANT $1,000,000* *The Lauzier Grant is
payable in $100,000 installments over a ten-year period, starting in 2007. It
may be necessary for the district to borrow against this fund to complete the
project in 2008. We will not know if it will be necessary to borrow until all
construction costs are determined. |
