Chehalis PK-2 Elementary School
The new James W. Lintott Elementary School serving grades pre-K through two is now complete and open for the 2018-19 calendar year. A grand opening event was held this past August, 2018 along with the ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a barbecue. Students, parents and community members shared in the wonderful event showcasing the new facility. Orin C. Smith Elementary School is scheduled to open Spring of 2019, and the district has a plan in place for its 3rd through 5th grades. 3rd graders will be housed at Cascade until they can move into Smith Elementary [in spring 2019]. Olympic will remain open for its 4th and 5th grade until next spring, as well. This new development allows the school district the opportunity to make the best use of our resources, without requesting new funding from taxpayers, and has numerous benefits.
During this coming year the school district will embark on capital facilities projects made possible when Chehalis patrons approved a $36 million bond measure. We explained to patrons that the measure would fund the building of a new school and a half -- a new 3-5 grade school on the Shaw property, plus a new wing onto Olympic Elementary School, along with a remodel of the existing part of Olympic. The purpose of this letter is to bring you up to date on this process and to let you know of a possible modification in our planning. We want our staff to be informed, and we will also share this information with the community. Before presenting the bond measure, we had a preliminary analysis that indicated that the remodel of Olympic was cost effective. Now, however, we have hired an architect firm, which has worked with our educational committees, and together they have looked closely at Olympic. The actual costs of doing things we knew needed to be done to bring Olympic up to required building code for school buildings will be higher than was previously forecast. Some of the items that are more costly include: • replacement of mechanical and electrical stems, • new fire sprinkler system, • scope of asbestos abatement,
• seismic/earthquake retrofit and ADA upgrades.
The cost of making the “old� part of Olympic functional and fit with the new addition to be built is going to be significantly higher than anticipated. The investigation done through this process has shown that, for almost the same cost, the district can build two new schools on the Shaw property and not pursue the expansion and upgrade of Olympic. In a nutshell, it will cost about the same to build two new schools as to build one and a one-half new and to remodel the other half. This new development gives us an opportunity to make the best use of our resources, without requesting new funding from taxpayers, and has numerous benefits.
 
Subsequently, on May 12, 2015, through Piper Jaffray & Co., the District was successful in selling $26.5 million in bonds, generating $26.5 million in project funds. Due to favorable market conditions and a strong rating, the District received a low interest rate for borrowing, 3.71%, and, equally important, attained the $1.11 per $1000 tax rate that was projected to District voters. The remainder of the bonds are scheduled to be sold in December 2015.
On May 1, 2015, the Chehalis School District received an A1 bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service. “Attaining a strong bond rating is an integral part of the bond financing process,” according to Trevor Carlson, Managing Director of Public Finance at Piper Jaffray & Co.
An A1 rating is considered to be a strong investment grade rating, and was needed. so that the District could proceed to secure reasonable financing for the construction of a new school and renovating Olympic Elementary School. The District received this strong rating “for having consistently balanced financial performance, stable enrollment and healthy liquidity and reserves.�
~ A special thanks to Frontier Door & Cabinet for the wonderful photography ~
Frontier Door & Cabinet
McGranahan Architects
Glen Ehrhardt -‐ Founder, CEO Harvest Timber Specialty Products PO Box 59 Lakebay, WA 98349 p. (253) 884-‐6255 c. (253) 312-‐1529 email windsweptwood@gmail.com web hOps://harvest-‐Rmber.com