Why is this Pierce County school district buying a house next to a high school?
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- The Peninsula School District is buying 1.5‑acres next to Peninsula High School.
- The district will pay $490,000 after negotiating roughly $60,000 below asking price.
- Acquisition joins 20+ acres bought in 2024 near PHS, which is aging and needs upgrades.
Soon, the blue house with white trim on 144th Street Northwest will belong to the Peninsula School District.
The district expected to close on a deal to purchase the property by the Peninsula High School campus Jan. 29, district spokesperson Danielle Chastaine told The News Tribune in an email Jan. 27. Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer records indicate the property is 0.63 acres.
It’s not clear yet what the district will use the property at 6422 144th St. NW for, though Chief Financial Officer Ashley Murphy told the school board Jan. 20 that the district is “pretty excited.”
The district decided to buy the property “for some future school-level programming that would move some district-level programming on the PHS campus,” she told the board at their Jan. 20 meeting. “I can’t speak in a ton of detail in regards to all of it, because I am waiting to finalize everything so I can get a contractor in there and see if the building is going to work for what its intended purpose is.
“But ultimately, what this allows us to do is really continue to broaden the services of what Peninsula High School can provide to our entire student population.”
The district isn’t paying for the purchase using bond revenue, Murphy said at the meeting. Instead, they’re drawing on investment proceeds from their Capital Projects fund, which is dedicated to things like buying property and making major facility upgrades. This money can’t be used for “salaries, benefits, academic instruction for kids, anything like that,” she said.
She explained that the house came onto the market about two months prior. The district negotiated with the sellers to buy it for about $60,000 below asking price, she said.
A purchase and sale agreement included in school board meeting records indicates that the seller is “HF Church & Co.” and that the home is a single-family residence. The total sale price is $490,000, according to the agreement. Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer records indicate that the taxpayer for the property as of Jan. 28 was Harborview Fellowship Church and Conference Center, a church in the Gig Harbor area.
Asked further about the district’s plans, Chastaine wrote that the district “cannot discuss the use of the property yet since we are still in the process of purchasing the property.”
The school board voted unanimously to approve the purchase as part of their consent agenda Jan. 20, according to meeting records.
The district’s acquisition will add to over 20 acres of land the district purchased near the high school in 2024. School board president Natalie Wimberley told The News Tribune then that the land had been desirable because of its proximity to existing district facilities, including Peninsula High School, Purdy Elementary, Roy Anderson Stadium and district offices.
“While there are no immediate plans for the property, the district has convened a long-range facilities planning committee to comprehensively evaluate the needs of all our schools and guide future development,” she told The News Tribune in November of 2024.
In their report to the school board last summer, the district’s long-range facilities planning committee identified Gig Harbor High School and Peninsula High School as top priorities for improvement because of their age and condition.
“Building systems (wiring, plumbing, etc.), roofing, HVAC, siding and flooring are older, outdated, or both,” the presentation noted. “The number of bathrooms available for both students and staff in either high school are limited ... In both schools access to robust modern electives like Theater/Music are hamstrung, relying on antiquated equipment, classrooms, etc. Sports facilities and gyms are aging and offer inadequate space for current athletic programming.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to state that the school board voted to approve the property purchase. The size of the property has also been corrected. It is 0.63 acres.
This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 11:46 AM.
