Pair of New CPSD Elementary Schools on JBLM Set For Completion In 2013

Ground is expected to be broken this summer on the construction of two new elementary schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Carter Lake Elementary, on McChord Field, and Hillside Elementary on Lewis Main, will be built in their current locations and are slated for completion in Fall 2013.

Funding for the schools, which are owned by the government and operated by the Clover Park School District, comes from the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) and Washington state school construction funds.

“Both schools will be fully funded with federal and state funds,” said Lynn Wilson, the district’s administrator for business services and capital projects, in a statement. “U.S. Representatives Norm Dicks and Adam Smith, along with our U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, have been instrumental supporters of these projects on behalf of military families.”

The federal funding required at least a 20 percent match for the total public cost, and the district worked with the State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to secure school construction assistance funding. 

Wilson said they expect to have a final cost estimate by June and that the district is pursing the General Contractor/Construction Manager (GC/CM) process through the state.

Carter Lake Elementary will be built for a capacity of 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) students and Hillside will hold 650.

“Generally speaking, elementary school construction projects take approximately 18 to 24 months from start to finish,” Wilson said. “We are on a fast track and have done the first portion of the process during the last six months.”

In 2006, CPSD began a partnership with JBLM to evaluate the conditions and capacity of the seven elementary schools on the military installation.

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.

The outcome of that study kicked off the Military Child Education Initiative, which raised awareness of failing school infrastructures on military installations across the United States. A $250 million budget was included in the Fiscal Year 2011 defense appropriations bill to fix base schools.

Carter Lake and Hillside ranked second and fifth, respectively, in the top 25 schools needing immediate attention based on an independent scoring of enrollment capacity and building conditions.

Another $250 million was appropriated in FY12 and CPSD has been invited to apply for federal funding for three additional elementary schools on JBLM: Beachwood, Clarkmoor and Greenwood. The latter pair will be consolidated as one school with 650 FTE students.

“We’re very excited about it,” Wilson said in February. “We’re all very busy – it’s a great problem to have.”