Construction will start in summer on Shaw Road Elementary School addition

Construction is to begin this summer on a 12-classroom addition to Shaw Road Elementary School in Puyallup.

The addition will help make room for reduced class sizes in primary grades, or kindergarten through grade three. Smaller primary grade classes, with an average of 17 students per classroom, become a state requirement starting with the 2017-18 school year.

Construction at Shaw Road is to begin in June and be completed for the 2017-18 school year. District officials say construction won’t disrupt existing classrooms, and that they are planning for playground and recess needs.

The $8.9 million Shaw Road project isn’t part of the $292.5 million package voters approved in November for construction at five other elementary schools.

Instead, the Puyallup School Board transferred money from the district’s general fund to its capital fund to pay for the Shaw Road project.

The move allows construction to begin while the school district seeks state funding to supplement its own.

The district applied in December for a state grant to help fund the Shaw Road addition. But the one-time grant program has only $200 million to distribute statewide, and there’s no guarantee Puyallup will win a share.

Barring receipt of a grant, the district plans to apply for funds from the School Construction Assistance Program, an ongoing state program that can provide a percentage of state matching funds for school construction projects.

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 8:49 AM with the headline "Construction will start in summer on Shaw Road Elementary School addition."