CPSD Invited to Apply For Federal Grant to Rebuild Two Schools On Military Base

When it comes to financial matters, nothing is ever an easy process.

Still, Clover Park School District officials are not complaining.

The district has been invited to apply for a federal grant to rebuild two of its elementary schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The schools – five on Fort Lewis and one on McChord Field – are owned by the government and operated by the district.

Based on the Defense Department’s priority list – determined by a nationwide evaluation of schools on military installments – those with the greatest need were invited by the Office of Economic Adjustment to apply for $250 million appropriated in 2011 for recapitalization grants. Hillside was second on the list; Carter Lake was fifth.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Lynn Wilson, the district’s administrator for business services, operations and capital projects. “We’re all very busy – it’s a great problem to have.”

In order to gain approval to apply for a grant, the district first had to submit a proposal to rebuild Carter Lake and Hillside. Then OEA officials came out and did a base tour – and formulated subsequent questions for the district to answer. CPSD then submitted a revised proposal.

While the process to apply for the grant is not quick, Wilson said that they have had informal discussions about securing funding for the project.

“We’re very confident we’re going to get funding for this,” he said. 

Wilson said CPSD is working closely with both the OEA and DOD – “Anytime you work with the government, you know it’s a bunch of acronyms” – and that he has never seen such a level of cooperation from everyone involved.

“It’s absolutely unparalleled,” he said, “people working together – OSPI, at the federal level, our counterparts on JBLM from top to bottom – everybody.”

The proposal submitted by CPSD included preliminary costs, conceptual site design and schematic design. A district committee selected BRCA Design as the architect of record for the project after a public request for proposals and their subsequent review.

“We’re working on the cost figures, and as we get closer, the design details,” Wilson said. “As you get further down in that, you get a much better level of true costs, so we’re working (toward) that.”

While the district officials have not worked out exact numbers, they have submitted paperwork to the state for the preliminary commitment of funds.

With the exception of Evergreen Elementary, which was built in the early 1990s, all of the schools on JBLM were constructed in the 1950s and '60s. Other than some cosmetic upgrades, the schools have never been improved or remodeled. Even the newer Evergreen needs a new roof, which would cost millions of dollars.

Due to significant military growth in the area over the past decade, nearly all of the schools are operating at or above capacity, and some schools have brought in portables to hold all of their students.

In addition to being invited to apply for a grant to rebuild Hillside and Carter Lake, Superintendent Debbie LeBeau received a call from OEA requesting proposals for the next three CPSD schools on the national list.

An additional $250 million was approved for fiscal year 2012 in the federal defense budget for school construction on military bases.

Wilson said that they have received informal information that they will be moving along with the 2012 budget to replace Beachwood, Clarkmoor and Greenwood Elementary Schools. The latter pair will become one school with 650 full-time equivalent (FTE) students.

“We’ll be replacing three schools, but consolidating two,” he said.

Clover Park’s school board has looked into purchasing bonds to cover renovation and construction of the schools, but Lakewood taxpayers have indicated that they would not support building schools that their children could not attend. A $65 million bond passed in 2006 to construct a new Lakeview Hope Academy and Lakes High School, and a $92 million bond, approved in 2010, will build three schools including a new Hudtloff Middle School.

Wilson said that while the district is excited about rebuilding Hillside and Carter Lake, he anticipates continued capacity issues as on-base housing is completed at North Fort Lewis.

“That’s going to generate enough kids to need a new school,” he said. “That was our top priority, to get another school, and that’s not being addressed.

"That’s a continuing concern we’re going to address.”