It only took a year or two after the Napavine School District completed its last round of major renovations to the school in the early 2000s for the student population to outgrow the building.
Now, over 20 years later, every classroom on campus is filled to capacity.
Every activity at the school is a struggle to best utilize available space without infringing on other activities. Middle school students have classes in portable buildings that are over 30 years old, and while the structures have been well maintained by the district, they can be demoralizing for students to learn in and pose security issues during lockdown situations.
Physical education classes currently take place in the elementary school cafeteria, which middle and high school students have to cross the street to access.
“We're seeing apartments being built. We're seeing more housing developments being built. And if we're at capacity right now, I have no idea where to place them,” said Superintendent Shane Schutz.
Given that anticipated growth, the Napavine School District decided to put a bond proposal on the February ballot to fund repairs and renovations to the school.
The district is asking voters to approve a 25-year, $17 million bond to expand and renovate Napavine Junior/Senior High School facilities.
With the most recent county property valuations, the rate is expected to be $1.38 per $1,000.
“We feel like, over time and as the growth occurs, that $1.38 is going to continue to drop, which makes this project even less. … We're banking on that,” said Schutz.
As a bond proposal, the measure needs 60% of the vote plus one to pass.
If passed, the district would embark on a construction project to move middle school students out of the portables they currently use into permanent instructional and administrative space; move sixth graders up to middle school to free up room at the elementary level; build an auxiliary gym that would allow physical education classes to move out of the elementary cafeteria; build a kitchen at the high school and increase the size of the student common area; and provide upgrades and renovations to the existing high school and annex to increase the life of those facilities.
It would likely take two years from the measure’s passage to acquire all the necessary permits and complete construction, according to Schutz.
In addition to improving the buildings for existing teachers and students, Schutz said he hopes the renovations will help make Napavine School District more competitive when it comes to attracting and hiring new teachers.
“That's another tool that we've talked about, that we know is important, when you're trying to get some of the better teachers in your small, rural community,” he said.
While the portables would no longer be used as middle school classrooms once the renovations are complete, Schultz says the district intends to keep maintaining those structures.
“Partly the strategic reason behind this is (the state) only allows you, when you're going out for a bond, … to build for what your current student capacity allows. It doesn't allow you to prepare for future growth … so why get rid of something that is paid for already?” asked Schutz.
If they’re not needed as classrooms in the immediate future, Schultz said the portables could be used as library space or as a place to start a preschool.
“We wanted to keep all of our options open rather than closed,” he said.
Napavine’s last attempt to pass a bond, in Schutz’ terms, “failed miserably.”
That $17.995 million bond proposal was opposed by 68.11% of the 1,159 ballots cast in the April 2015 election, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
The school district used the information from that 2015 election to come up with a more conservative request that Schultz hopes that the Napavine community will find more agreeable.
“We believe we came up with a structure that meets the needs of our students (and) hopefully, is conservative in cost to our patrons,” he said.
A survey sent out by the district about the proposal came back with 96% approval of the bond proposal, which Schutz said is a good sign for the upcoming measure.
Those who were hesitant about the bond expressed concerns about the cost.
“It is going to come down to money and I understand that, especially in the economic situation we’re in, and you can’t blame people for that,” said Schutz. “We knew that, but we figured we can’t keep waiting and hoping for a good time to run it. We’ve got to start running it now to hopefully try to help support that (renovation).”
More information on the bond proposal, as well as a video featuring students’ and teachers’ perspectives, is available on the Napavine School District website at https://www.napavineschools.org/home/2023-bond.
The bond proposal can be read in full at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/current-election/.
