New school in Pullman; Kamiak construction on time for class

Passersby could be forgiven for thinking Pullman's newest elementary school is finished or close to it, but a quick peek inside reveals there is a good deal of work to be done.

Perched on the northwest edge of town, Kamiak Elementary School is nearing completion with an eye on the 2019-2020 school year.

While the exterior of the new school, with its fresh brick and blue-tile facade, gives the impression of a finished project, a step through the front doors reveals unfinished floors, open spaces where windows and doors have yet to be installed and the look and smell of a space under construction.

Pullman School District Director of Operations Joe Thornton said he anticipates some minor tweaks and finish work to take place over the summer after the school district assumes stewardship of the building, but by most metrics, Kamiak Elementary is on schedule to be completed March 1.

"There's always something that in the construction business you call 'punch list' - things that got missed or things that got damaged during install," Thornton said. "Standard punch list stuff is true if you're building a house or your building a school."

Thornton said the district drew up new attendance boundaries last year that will allow students to attend class closer to home while giving them safer, shorter routes to school.

He said students and teachers from throughout the district will be moved to Kamiak starting in the fall. Kamiak Elementary's future principal, Even Hecker, said he would like to start inviting new students, parents and teachers to the space in May for activities oriented toward easing the transition.

With students and staff being shuffled to new buildings throughout Pullman, Thornton said all the schools in the district will be new environments. He said the unofficial motto attached to the project has been "one new building, four new schools."

"We have a new building, but in fact the dynamics of every school is going to be different, every school is going to be new," Thornton said. "Every school will end up with students attending it that had been attending a different elementary school, so everything's changed."

Thornton said while there have been a host of renovations and remodels to Pullman schools in the past two decades, Franklin Elementary, the district's newest school, was built in 1997.

Thornton said the district's three existing elementary schools - Jefferson, Franklin and Sunnyside - are each at about 125 percent capacity. With the introduction of the new facilities, he said Pullman elementary schools should each be down to around 85 to 90 percent capacity.

With the Pullman population on a steady upward trend, Thornton said the new school is a preemptive measure against the projected rise in student population, adding the success of the project is largely thanks to the efforts of the Pullman School Board and Superintendent Bob Maxwell.

"They said, we've got to get in front of that curve and get this school built," Thornton said. "Now we have room to grow."

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.