School board:Remodelhigh school

It’s time to remodel Wahkiakum High School.

That’s the conclusion the Wahkiakum School District board of directors reached last week after going over a list of maintenance needs and hearing the recommendation of administrators.

The school, completed in 1962, has a wide variety of needs, and remodeling would be the most cost efficient way to address them, said Superintendent Bob Garrett.

Directors Tina Schubert, Todd Souvenir, Mike Quigley and Lee Tischer—Willie Johnson was ill and absent—authorized Garrett to begin the process of having an architect do an in-depth study to plan the project.

Rough estimates of project costs total close to $1 million.

If the district remodels, it will qualify for an estimated 53 percent matching grant of state school construction funds, Garrett said. This way the state shares in the expenses, he said.

If the district just puts money into maintenance projects, there is no state match, and the district shoulders the entire cost.

After discussing the building needs, directors agreed to go for a remodel project that would enhance the school buildings.

“I think the public would balk pretty loudly on a million dollar band-aid approach,” Quigley commented.

“Yeah,” Tischer agreed. “The school has had 45 years of use. It has done well.”

Some projects need immediate attention just to preserve the high school, said Maintenance Supervisor Bob McKlintock.

For instance, the high walls of the gymnasium need professional painting and repair to some exposed wood that is starting to rot and allow water leaks, he said.

The walls of the technical and shop building need similar attention; the roof of the middle school gymnasium is failing, and there are windows in the grade school kitchen that were improperly installed and need attention.

The directors voted to transfer funds from the general fund to the capital projects fund for those projects and also for installation of a sewer manhole in the elementary school parking lot to allow better maintenance of that school’s sewer line.

The decision to remodel also settled a request from staff to expand the wrestling/weight training room.

At a previous meeting, wrestling Coach John Hannah had suggested the expansion to allow the high school PE program to leave weight training equipment set up all year in the room. During wrestling season, the equipment must be carried upstairs to the mezzanine in the gym where it is in the way of bleachers needed for basketball games. Also, the floor and ceiling aren’t strong enough for the equipment, and there has been ceiling damage in the girls locker room when weights are dropped.

But with a planned remodel, directors and administrators agreed that it would be imprudent to spend money on work that might be altered again soon.

In other business, the board learned that staff and administrators weren’t pursuing a proposal to add an assistant cheerleading coach.

No other school in the area has an assistant for cheerleading, Garrett said.