On March 13, 2001, the citizens of Kelso approved, by a 61.4% majority, a $29.9 million school bond. The purpose of the bond was to help finance a facilities plan for capital improvements throughout Kelso Public Schools. The facilities plan called for:

• Security improvements to ALL schools
• Technology upgrades for ALL schools
• Major remodel of Kelso High School
• Major remodel of Barnes Elementary Schools
• Purchase of property for future schools

Following is a brief history of the Kelso School District Facilities Improvement Plan.

Pre-Election

The facilities plan was the result of a five-month study conducted by a committee of 22 community and district representatives. The group identified almost $60 million in facilities needs and evaluated a number of options before recommending the initial plan to the Kelso School Board in August, 2000.

Between August and December of that year, the school board and district administration conducted more than 60 public meetings to gather public response to the plan. As a result of more than 23 pages of written comments compiled during the first round of meetings, we brought back two plans -- one based on current grade configuration and one based on the proposed change to middle school. Only then -- and after some additional modifications based on community input -- was the facilities plan adopted, and the bond request placed on the ballot.

Following passage of the bond, the Board of Directors selected Longview-based Collins Architectural Group, and LSW Architects out of Vancouver, Washington, to provide the architectural services for the projects. A collaborative planning and design process began in June, with students, parents, staff and community representatives meeting over several sessions to explore educational goals and program vision for each project. Approximately 60 individuals for each project participated in this phase of design process.

A smaller core group for each project continued working with the design teams over the summer and into the fall, as detailed components of the design concepts were further refined. The school board approved preliminary designs for both projects in October, 2001.

Also in June, the Facilities Committee, along with district administration, met to discuss the prioritization of projects for those schools not included in the two major renovation projects.  See list of priority projects.