Freeman gets free portables

As the Freeman School District moves toward breaking ground on a project to expand and remodel the high school and elementary school, it has been given a gift by Spokane Public Schools – five free portable buildings that house two classrooms each.

“It’s a tremendous help to our district,” said Sergio Hernandez, Freeman superintendent.

The district had been looking for portable classrooms, which cost about $150,000 new. The district likely would have tried to lease them or buy used buildings. “It’s hard to put a dollar value on it, but it’s certainly a tremendous savings for our district.”

The buildings, currently in use at Rogers High School, will be available in January. “These are older buildings,” said Mark Anderson, associate superintendent for school support services for Spokane Public Schools. “They’d have to be disassembled and moved to another location, probably costing us about $250,000 to do so.”

Freeman will be responsible for moving the portable classrooms. “By spring, we’d like them gone,” Anderson said. “That’s where our new student parking is going to be.”

The buildings will be put across the street from the high school, so they can be used for both the high school and elementary school projects. They’re “wet” portables with bathrooms and running water and will have to be hooked up to utilities. “We’re kind of positioning them halfway between both buildings,” Hernandez said.

The district will start preparing the site for the portables in October so it’s ready by January. The construction project will go out to bid in March, with groundbreaking sometime in late April.

The arrangement is a benefit to both districts. “For us, it was a cheap way of disposing of them,” Anderson said. “It’s a good deal for them and it’s a good deal for us.”

Hernandez is grateful for anything that moves his district one step closer to construction. “It’s been a long time in coming and the community is excited about the possibilities.”