Port Townsend’s aging school problem to be laid out at community forum

PORT TOWNSEND – The Port Townsend School District will lay out its hopes, dreams and concerns when it hosts a community forum Thursday to discuss school buildings in need of replacement or renovation.

The 7 p.m. forum takes place on one of the campuses of concern – in the Grant Street Elementary School gymnasium, 1637 Grant St.

The School Board is considering putting a $30-plus million bond issue before voters in February to finance the building of a new Grant Street Elementary to replace the 51-year old school.

The School Board is expected to decide in mid-November whether to put the bond to voters and exactly how much the bond will be for.

Schools Superintendent Tom Opstad has said a bond issue of $30 million would also fund minor maintenance needs at the high school and Blue Heron Middle School.

If the bond passes by a 60 percent supermajority in February, construction would began in the summer.

If all goes as planned, Opstad has said, Grant Street, which would house kindergarten through fifth grade, will be ready by fall 2010.

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