Sumner students face major changes Hundreds of Sumner and Bonney Lake students will have to get used to new surroundings starting next fall as the East Pierce County school district tackles a series of major construction projects.

The Sumner School District plans call for completion of one new campus and replacement or significant renovations of six existing schools over the next four years.

Work is already under way on a yearlong job to replace the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system at Sumner High School.

And builders are on schedule to complete a new elementary school by this summer in the Cascadia housing development. The building will become the temporary home for three schools as their buildings are modernized in successive years.

Though the ailing economy hurts on many levels, there’s a bright side for the district.

“This is a really good bidding climate right now – or we believe and hope it is,” said Craig Spencer, the district’s assistant superintendent. “We will go to bid this winter on Victor Falls’ (elementary school) modernization and Lakeridge Middle School.”

All but one of the projects are financed by the district’s $114 million bond measure passed in May 2007. The district’s 1997 bond measure supports construction of the $18 million new elementary school.

The new school in Cascadia will be known as Elementary Number Nine while it houses its temporary pupils. It will get its formal name once it begins operating as its own school in fall 2012.

The district had originally planned to open the school in 2000, but Cascadia developed more slowly than anticipated, district spokeswoman Ann Cook said. By 2012, district officials think Cascadia will have built enough homes, and spurred enough enrollment growth, for the school to stand on its own.

Getting the school done now, however, has turned out to be a blessing because it helps with upcoming renovations elsewhere.

“It’s good to move (students and staff) totally out,” Spencer said. “The contractor doesn’t have to work around kids and adults while trying to do this work. The contractor gets the work done quickly, which allows us to save money, and kids are in a safe environment.”

First to borrow the new school: Victor Falls Elementary students and staff for the 2009-10 school year. The following school year, Victor Falls moves back to its renovated home and Bonney Lake Elementary moves into Elementary Number Nine for one year while the Bonney Lake building is modernized.

Plans for the 2011-12 school year are tentative, but one scenario calls for all or some Maple Lawn Elementary students and staff to relocate temporarily to Elementary Number Nine while their school is renovated.

The district is also revising school attendance boundaries to accommodate the new elementary school opening and growth in various neighborhoods.

After hearing from parents, the district proposes to move some students from Crestwood to Victor Falls, some from McAlder to Crestwood and some from Victor Falls to the new Cascadia-area school.

Because of parents’ concerns about educational continuity for their children, the district will guarantee a waiver allowing students affected by boundary changes to stay in their current school for two years if they wish, Cook said.

Debby Abe: 253-597-8694

WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS?

Lakeridge

The Sumner School District won’t need to move students and staff out of Lakeridge Middle School when construction begins this spring. The $35 million project entails tearing down all but the two gyms at the aging and crowded middle school. But classes for the school’s more than 500 students will continue in the existing facilities during construction of the new buildings, which are located on a different part of campus.

Sumner

This modernization project is another story. Since the district doesn’t have a spare building to house Sumner Middle School’s more than 700 students, the project will proceed in phases around the campus. It’s likely one grade level will have to move into portables or into classrooms at neighboring Maple Lawn Elementary when construction begins in spring 2010.