D21 and Community Advisory Committee Agree on Scope of New School Bond
“The environments we create to encourage our youngest learners are among society’s greatest investments.” -OPSIS
Community representatives, parents, past teachers, students and North Wasco County School District 21 staff came together to start the process of a defining the scope of a new school bond.
By Cole Goodwin
North Wasco County School District 21 held its first Community Advisory Committee School Bond Planning meeting on June 1st at 6 p.m. at The Dalles Middle School.
Just under sixty community representatives, parents, past teachers, students and staff came together to start the process of a potential school bond.
OPSIS Architecture, who facilitated the planning meeting in partnership with D21 staff, said it was one of the largest school planning meetings they’ve ever facilitated.
“We really want this to be a collaborative and community-driven process,” said Stephanie Bowen, Director of Communications and Community Involvement at D21.
OPSIS has envisioned over 40 school building projects including Portland area public schools and four Gorge local projects: Hood River Valley High School Renovation, Hood River Middle School Music & Science Building, May Street Elementary School, and Wy’East Middle School.
The meeting started with a brief presentation on the bond planning process, the purpose of the committee, opportunities and past challenges, and the goals for the meeting.
“It’s no secret that our buildings have a long list of needs, from safety and accessibility to basic capacity. This committee will help us identify and prioritize these issues so that we can propose a well-informed bond that is representative of both the needs of our students and our facilities and the wishes of our community as well.” said Dr. Carolyn Bernal, D21 Superintendent.
Then the committee broke into eight individual work session groups focusing on four potential bond scopes:
Essential Improvements and Repairs, i.e. energy savings, mandatory repairs, technology integrations, ADA compliance, and healthy environment improvements.
Capital Improvements, i.e. building capacity in learning spaces, building Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, creating adaptive learning areas, and creating a 21st-century learning environment.
Safety and Security Upgrades, i.e. improved control of entry points, maintaining ADA accessibility, creating safe student pick-up and drop-off sites, and improving safety and security of outdoor play areas.
Replacing The Dalles High School facility, by building a new high school, most likely on the Wahtonka campus.
“We wanted to get a feel for what the community’s priorities were,” said Bowen. “So we asked committee members to rank each bond scope by level of priority.”
“The majority of the committee wanted to pursue replacing the high school,” said Bowen. “The current D21 high school facility is 81 years old, making it nearly 21 years past due for replacement according to national statistics.”
Committee member Scott McKay said that he liked the idea of building a new school because it would be nice for the community to have something tangible to point to and say ‘that is how my tax dollars were spent.’
OPSIS agreed that a new school would be a great investment.
“The environments we create to encourage our youngest learners are among society’s greatest investments,” said OPSIS.
There is a lot to consider with a potential new High School, some top priorities discussed by the committee included:
Top-notch safety and security for students and staff.
Creating a 21st-century learning environment.
A learning facility that can grow and adapt to future learning needs.
On-campus athletic facilities to create ease in thier after-school program transitions and to keep students safe.
“Nothing is set in stone right now. There are still many things to consider, such as what will happen to the current high school should we build a new one,” said Bowen.
“But, that being said, we had a great first meeting,” said Bowen.
“It really feels like we’re all moving in the same direction. I walked away with a very positive feeling and a sense of pride in our community.”
“We want our students to be proud of the schools they attend,” said Bowen. “And we were so grateful to see our community proudly participating in working towards making that a reality for our kids and for future generations of D21 students.”
The School Bond Planning Community Advisory Committee will meet again in August and October and hopes to have a bond proposal ready to present to The D21 School Board in January of 2023.
Watch the School Bond Planning Community Advisory Committee meeting here or on D21’s YouTube channel.
A list of the School Bond Planning Advisory Committee members:
D21 Team Members
Dr. Carolyn Bernal, NWCSD Superintendent
Kara Flath, NWCSD CFO
Jose Aparicio, NWCSD Board of Directors
Doug Rice, NWCSD Facilities
Kurt Evans, NWCSD TDHS Principal
Amy Hampton, NWCSD Student Services Director
Sandra Harris, NWCSD HR Director
Billy Brost, NWCSD Athletic Director
Phil Williams, NWCSD TDHS VP
Stephanie Bowen, NWCSD Communications Director
Ajay Rundell, NWCSD Chenowith Elementary Principal
David Jones, NWCSD Board of Directors
Parent/Community Representatives
Robbie Denning, Community at Large
Michael Held, Community at Large
Serena Smith, Community at Large
Daniel Spatz, Community at Large
John Grant, Community at Large
Diana Bailey, Community at Large
Linda Skov, Retired Teacher
Debi Ferrer, Retired Teacher
Terry B. Armentrout, Community at Large
Eleanor Lemann, Parent
Michael Springston, Parent
Dana Journey, Parent
William Pielli, Parent
Jared Gosson, Parent
David Ortega, Parent
Rachael Brown, Parent
Marie Mourou, Parent
Matthew Chaisson, Parent
Alan Easling, Parent
Corey Case, Parent
Ryan LeBreton, Parent
Lamont Crichton-Tuanai, Parent
Kristi Timmons, Parent
Anthony W Pereira, Parent
Courtney Judah, Parent
Jennifer Gunter, Parent
Greg Cummings, Parent
Student Representatives
Sophia Lewis, Student Representative 1
Oscar Torres, Student Representative 2
Community Partners
Marta Cronin, Columbia Gorge Community College
Rich Mays, Mayor City of The Dalles
Jill Amery, Wasco County Representative
Davina Craig, Education Foundation Representative
Pat Sublette, Columbia Gorge ESD
Lucille Begay , CGESD - Native Americans of The Dalles Community
Silvestre Deras, McClaskey Orchards
Megan Thompson, The Dalles Chamber/Cascade Cherry Growers
Carrie Pippinich, MCEDD
Andrea Flores, Juntos
Rachael Carter, Parks and Recreation Board Member
Scott McKay, MCSS
Melissa Hollister, Union Leadership
Mindy Claussen, Union Leadership
Design Team
Alec Holser, Opsis Architecture
Steven Nelsen, Opsis Architecture
Liz Manser, Opsis Architecture
Bryce Tolene, Opsis Architecture
