No Ideal Solution To CV Problem

Three possible plans for housing Central Valley High School students during the two years it will take to build a new CV High on Sullivan Road have tentatively emerged from committee meetings.

These choices have not yet been finalized. It is too early, in some cases, to know every cost figure.

Here are the tentative plans:

The North Pines plan: Empty out North Pines Junior High.

Consolidate all junior high students into the district’s other four junior highs. Move all the Central Valley High kids to North Pines, which could hold about 900 students. With eight or nine two-classroom portables, all 1,300 students would fit.

Glitches: The demand for parking at North Pines would swamp the available supply. Paving over the North Pines football field might be one way to satisfy the demand for parking.

Cost: Leasing nine portables would cost more than $425,000. Transportation costs also would rise. Providing extra parking would add to the costs.

The big shift: Keep students on part of the CV campus, with 20 additional portables. Let the contractors build the 40 percent of the new school which falls outside the footprint of the existing building first. Then, move students into that section, and let construction proceed on the remaining 60 percent of the new building.

Glitches: During construction, the school would go without such facilities as the library, the commons, administrative offices and shop classes. Holding classes so close to construction raises safety concerns and would be noisy.

Cost: The 20 extra portables needed for the Big Shift would cost an estimated $528,000. Add $150,000 for a minimum of three months extension in construction; add another $250,000 for added costs due to the contractor having to move in and out of the site.

Also add $100,000 for temporary construction. That’s more than $1 million in additional costs, according to estimates by Northwest Architectural Co.

Hold and stagger: Build the new University High School first and move the U-Hi students in there. Then move CV High kids into the old U-Hi while the new CV High is built.

Glitches: This promises to be an emotional issue. Due to a community interest in equity between the two high schools, the district promised during the 1998 bond campaign that the two new schools would open at the same time.

Cost: The cost of construction is expected to rise with inflation. But by investing the CV High construction money for two years, the district would expect to roughly cover those increased costs. This plan also would somewhat increase transportation costs.

This sidebar appeared with the story: LET US KNOW What’s your opinion? Parents and school district staffers making plans for housing Central Valley High School students while a new CV High is built have come up with three tentative scenarios. Tell us which one of these plans you think is best and why. Or, if you have a better idea, offer your own plan. We’ll publish your comments. Send your thoughts on the matter to: Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: mikes@spokesman.com.