PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District’s aging infrastructure has been kept in good working order through regular preventive maintenance and responding promptly to emergency repairs, Superintendent Marty Brewer told the board.
Nonetheless, five schools that are between 45 and 70 years old have deteriorated to the point where they need to be replaced.
“We have a responsibility to address our facilities’ needs before it gets to the point where we don’t have solutions,” Brewer said during a review of the district’s 30-year plan on Thursday.
Brewer’s presentation and that of Nolan Duce, director of maintenance and facilities, were preludes to the district’s intention in November to ask voters to support a bond issue that would fund construction of new Port Angeles High and Franklin Elementary schools.
The board would need to approve such a measure and it has not yet been presented with one.
The high school — built in 1953 — and Franklin — built in 1954 — are the oldest in the district. They are followed for replacement by Hamilton Elementary (1956), Stevens Middle School (1960) and Roosevelt Elementary (1978).
In 2019, the district estimated that building five new schools would cost $382 million, but Brewer said that number needed to be revised because construction costs had risen about 35 percent. In any case, he added, the district didn’t have $382 million bonding capacity, nor could taxpayers financially support such a large amount.
The purpose of the 30-year plan it approved, Brewer reminded the board, had been to establish consistent levy and bond rates in order to complete all of the projects within a designated time frame.
The planned levy and bond measures do not overlap, but are staggered, starting with the voter-approved $66 million capital levy in 2020 for Stevens Middle School improvements.
When the district finishes collecting those funds in fall 2025, construction can begin.
If voters approved a bond this fall, the first phase of the high school construction and construction at Franklin could begin in 2025 as well. That means the district could have three new schools open as early as 2028.
While the state contributes funding to school capital projects, most of the financial burden falls on local taxpayers, board member Sandy Long said.
“The state does not build schools. Communities build schools,” Long said. “You can pass a levy or you can pass a bond.”
Duce said he has a “fantastic” team that takes great pride in maintaining buildings with outdated and deteriorating mechanical, structural and electrical systems. Nonetheless it is critical for the district to continue to focus on its timeline for replacing buildings that are not candidates for modernization.
“If we don’t do something now and keep this plan going, we’ll be so far behind that we’ll have catastrophic events at all the schools,” he said.
Duce thanked his staff for stepping up every day to take care of the inside and the outside of buildings — and more.
A maintenance team of six spread out over nine campuses take care of electrical work, plumbing, roofing, HVAC, security alarms and boilers, among many other responsibilities.
“If not for the team spreading tons of ice melt last year, the district would have had more snow days,” Duce said.
Three groundskeepers seed, mow, prune, inspect playground equipment, remove snow and repair fences and gates at all of the campuses, he said.
A team of 21 custodians do not just take care of 611,346 square feet of district buildings every day, Duce said. They are also an integral part of the school community that support student learning.
“They are a friendly face and they help kids with zippers and do eyeglass repair,” Duce said. “I appreciate the staff I have.”
In other news from the meeting, Franklin Elementary students Veronica Schaefermeyer and Olivia Biddle were the district’s Students of the Month.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
