PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District board had the rare opportunity of increasing — not eliminating — the number of features to the new Stevens Middle School now under construction.
Thanks to the project being $1.2 million under budget, funding was available for work that wasn’t part of the original base bid price, but the district wanted to see as options.
“This is a lot of hard work to keep our costs down and a lot of hard negotiations when we started,” Nolan Duce, the school district’s director of capital projects, said Thursday. “Now we’re in a spot where we get to add scope instead of taking it away.”
Of the nine bid alternates, Duce recommended three: a synthetic turf playfield, bleachers and conduit and infrastructure for lighting, similar to Monroe Playfield, which opened in October 2023, TECTUM panels in the gym to absorb sound and reduce noise, and a canopy between the new building and the gym that would protect the only ADA access to the latter.
Directors unanimously approved the suggestions.
Although they discussed including a projector for the commons area, which was one of the nine alternates, directors agreed that its $75,000 price tag was too far above the $23,000 original estimate.
The total cost of the new school is budgeted at $81.14 million. The amount includes soft costs like architects, engineers, furniture, fixtures and equipment, a 3 percent contingency, a set-aside for tariffs if they impact the project and the construction manager/general contractor fee, among others.
The board will discuss at an upcoming meeting the possibility of a new name for Stevens. At its June 12 meeting, a naming committee presented four for consideration: Hurricane Ridge Middle School, Riverstone Middle School, Elwha River Middle School and Port Angeles Middle School.
Music award
For the fourth year in a row, Port Angeles received a Best Communities for Music Education Award from the National Association of Music Merchants.
The award recognized the community’s deep commitment to music education, said Vicki Helwick, a teacher who applied for the award on behalf of the district.
“We have community support through so many ways,” Helwick said. “The passage of the levy is a major one. Without those levy dollars, we would not be able to offer as much in the way of the arts as we do.”
The award honored people who make music an integral part of district education, like instructors and private teachers, as well as organizations like the Port Angeles Symphony, the Olympic Strings Workshop and Music on the Strait that support and encourage student participation, she said.
Port Angeles was one of five Washington schools to receive the award. Nationwide, 935 districts and individual schools were honored.
Budget process
The district is in good financial shape as it begins the process of preparing its budget for the upcoming school year, said Karen Casey, the business and operations director.
In June, salary and benefit spending was $224,000 less than last year, and its material supplies and operating costs (MSOC) was $56,542 less. Its four-year fund balance, which the district keeps a close eye on, was higher than the previous two years.
“The work of our team has been amazing,” Casey said.
Construction
The Port Angeles Project Advisory Committees, which provide feedback to the board on construction of the new Port Angeles High School and Franklin Elementary School, have started meeting to select short lists of architectural firms for those projects.
The firms will make presentations to the board on Aug. 14 and 15. The new schools will be funded by a $140 million capital bond that voters approved in the Nov. 5, 2024, general election by 64.41 percent.
Thursday was Michelle Olsen’s first board meeting as superintendent. The former assistant superintendent was selected after a nationwide search and sworn in on June 12. She replaced Marty Brewer, who retired after seven years and leading the drive for the bond measure.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
