With an estimated student population growth of nearly 800 students over the next eight years, the Hermiston School District is evaluating the findings of a facilities master planning committee that spent the past 18 months looking into each of district’s eight schools.
In a recent report to the Hermiston School Board, the committee noted that unless more permanent capacity is implemented, the district will likely have to increase its use of modular classrooms from the current number of 24 to 56, serving as many as 1,100 students.
The committee also noted that the district’s three oldest buildings (53-year-old Rocky Heights Elementary School, 35-year-old Highland Hills Elementary, and 20-year-old Sandstone Middle School) are all showing signs of either failing infrastructure or core components. The committee reported that it may prove more cost effective to replace the oldest two campuses rather than renovate, as was the case in 2008 for the district’s three most-aged schools, which were all replaced.
Safety and security accommodations, as well as concerns, were addressed in an independent safety audit performed by the Hermiston Police Department. The district’s newest campuses, as well as safety protocols imposed district-wide (e.g. cameras, access control, some traffic segregation) have provided improved measures to ensure student, staff, and visitor safety. However, both Rocky Heights and Highland Hills elementary schools, due to their design, age, and lack of life-safety alert systems, are inadequate to meet current safety standards, according to the audit.
The committee noted that paying for new school campuses, additions, renovations, and property acquisition needs will prove challenging as the school board and community will have to wrestle with current debt, future needs, and only a moderate growth in real market values. The district’s outstanding debt of $85 million weighs heavily with a $4/$1,000 tax rate. Although the anticipated rate is expected to gradually decrease over the coming years, significant tax rate relief is not anticipated until 2027.
The FMP committee strongly encouraged district leadership and the Board of Education to thoroughly review the data and recommendations contained within the comprehensive document. A growing student population, aging infrastructure, safety and security needs, and mechanisms by which to pay for identified solutions, will no doubt require prompt and deliberate action after significant community engagement has been accomplished.
More information on the Comprehensive Facility Master Plan document and the reports referenced may be found on the district website.
