The April 2016 special election results were certified on May 6. Those results include the approval of the Lake Washington School District’s (LWSD) $398 million bond measure to reduce overcrowding and enhance aging facilities. The measure officially passed with 66.28 percent or 27,585 votes in favor and 33.73 percent or 14,031 votes against.
“These final results are great news for students in Lake Washington School District,” said Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “We are thrilled to begin work on the first projects to accommodate our growing enrollment and provide excellent learning environments for years to come. We are grateful to our community for its support and especially the Lake Washington Citizens Levy Committee for their hard work to advocate for the measure.”
According to LWSD documents, the overall population in the district has grown by 3,200 students during the last five years.
“We are now moving forward with our efforts to build new schools,” noted Dr. Pierce. “We have established a small expert advisory group to review design and construction of funded projects. The advisory group will help us follow the cost-effective design principle recommendations of the Long-Term Facilities Planning Task Force.”
The bond will, among other large projects, rebuild Juanita High School (JHS) in Kirkland, build two new elementary schools and a new middle school in Redmond. The bond will also pay to rebuild and enlarge two other schools in Kirkland, Peter Kirk Elementary and Mead Elementary.
Members of the new Design and Construction Advisory Committee will review each project at three times during the design phase of each project: concept design, schematic design and design development.
The members of the committee include Long Term Facilities Planning Task Force member and Bond Advisory Committee member Eric Campbell with Main Street Property Group; Commercial construction manager for Microsoft Gid Palmer; Commercial architect Jay Halleran; Retired commerical general contractor Lee Kilcup; and the Director of School Support for the Juanita Learning Community Dale Cote.
The committee will review the design work to determine if it meets district design standards and it they meet the goal of making school buildings effective and efficient in design, construction and operation, according to the LWSD.
“Their advice will focus on schedules, budgets, materials, phasing, site layout, concept design, schematic design, design development, risk mitigation, construction and constructability, value engineering and project delivery methods,” LWSD spokeswoman Kathryn Reith said in a release. “The committee will provide feedback to the design team for each project.”
All members of the committee are associated with organizations that would not bid or be involved in district construction projects, according to the distrct.
A replacement for JHS will cost around $145 million. It will be a three-story building on the current site and is expected to be completed in 2021. The main athletic field and stands will not be changed. The building was originally completed in 1971, and is the oldest building used for classes in the district.
A somewhat similar bond was put to vote in 2014, but was defeated with 58 percent — two percent short of the passing requirement. The district spent a year studying options for trimming down the 2016 bond.
