Following the passage of the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) $398 million bond aimed to reduce overcrowding and enhance aging facilities, a new Design and Construction Advisory Committee will now begin working on reviewing projects.
The bond passed with 66.28 percent of the vote with King County Elections certifying the final results on May 6. The bond gathered 27,585 votes in support, and 14,031 votes against.
“These final results are great news for students in Lake Washington School District,” said Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent, in a press release. “We are thrilled to begin work on the first projects to accommodate our growing enrollment and provide excellent learning environments for years to come. We are grateful to our community for its support and especially the Lake Washington Citizens Levy Committee for their hard work to advocate for the measure.”
“We are now moving forward with our efforts to build new schools,” noted Dr. Pierce. “We have established a small expert advisory group to review design and construction of funded projects. The advisory group will help us follow the cost-effective design principle recommendations of the Long-Term Facilities Planning Task Force.”
According to the release, the measure will build one new middle school and two new elementary schools and will rebuild and enlarge three schools (Juanita High School, Kirk and Mead elementary schools). It will also replace the Explorer Community School classrooms and refurbish the Old Redmond Schoolhouse for use by preschool classes.
The projects are among those identified by the district’s Long-Term Facilities Planning Task Force, a citizen-based 63-member group that spent nearly a year analyzing the district’s facility needs, engaging the community and developing recommendations. They identified specific construction projects needed through the 2029-30 school year as well as strategies for efficient and cost-effective facility designs, and other planning and building recommendations. This bond is part of a long-term plan to fund those projects.
The new committee has begun its work with a review of the schematic designs of the two new elementary schools funded by the bond measure.
Members of the committee will review each project at three times during the design phase of each project: concept design, schematic design and design development. The committee will review the design work to determine if it meets district design standards. It will also review the designs with regard to the goal of making school buildings effective and efficient in design, construction and operation. Their advice will focus on schedules, budgets, materials, phasing, site layout, concept design, schematic design, design development, risk mitigation, construction and constructability, value engineering and project delivery methods. The committee will provide feedback to the design team for each project.
The group’s members have a rich background in design and construction. Members are associated with the design and construction industry. However, they are associated with organizations that would not bid or be involved in district construction projects, to avoid any conflict of interest.
The group’s members are:
• Eric Campbell – Main Street Property Group: Residential developer, Long-Term Facilities Planning Task Force member and Bond Advisory Committee member.
• Gid Palmer – Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities: Commercial construction manager for Microsoft and former general contractor with 30-plus years experience.
• Jay Halleran – NBBJ: Commercial architect and retired managing partner with 36 years of experience in the design profession on all project types.
• Lee Kilcup – GLY Construction: Commercial general contractor, retired company president with 40 years of experience in commercial general contracting in the greater Seattle market.
• Dale Cote – LWSD: Director of School Support for the Juanita Learning Community with 30 years of experience as an educator, principal and administrator.
