Next step for Clarkston High: a workshop

The Clarkston School Board continues to look at options regarding the future of Clarkston High School after hearing from community members and a local contracting firm about building possibilities.

Superintendent Thaynan Knowlton discussed findings from a series of focus groups done over the summer regarding the campaign to build a new high school. The board then decided to have a workshop session for solutions to the issues that came up in the focus groups. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Educator Support Center, 1294 Chestnut St. in Clarkston.

The main issues that came from the focus group were related to community involvement and engagement and the cost and budgeting for the new high school. Other issues that were discussed, but not by the majority, included alternative funding and partnerships, the timing of the bond and design concerns.

Questions at the focus groups were about what people were pleased with or displeased with about the bond, ideas for funding and what kept them from supporting the bond initiative.

“We heard back from the community the No. 1 and No. 2 issues were it’s too expensive, and the community (involvement) and engagement wasn’t enough,” Knowlton said.

Feedback at the sessions included more involvement from the community, especially the younger generations, and ideas like having a bake sale and car wash for funding sources. There were also concerns over a lack of transparency around the cost and the taxes, misinformation, lack of trust and feeling excluded from the process.

While the majority cited the lack of community involvement during the bond, the bond campaign received the most praise for its community engagement through its strategy, presenting information and its inclusive approach.

The financial burden was the other key issue during the focus groups. The majority of people thought the expense was burdensome, unrealistic and too high in a way that would affect property owners and renters. Those commenters thought that the cost could be reduced by simplifying the design, better interest rates and lower inflation.

“The next question is, ‘Now what?’” Knowlton said. “So what do we do?”

School Board President Dennis Lenz then suggested the workshop. A workshop would allow the board to engage with those who attend versus a regular school board meeting where an agenda has to be followed which means board members can’t address concerns not on the agenda and attendees are limited to public comment.

One suggestion on a possible plan forward for Clarkston High came from a local general contractor company, Kenaston–Leone & Keeble. Reece Hewett and Jeramie Keeble spoke with the board about the general contractor/construction manager method for building projects. The method is available to public entities in Washington, as well as other states, and is an alternative to the typical design, bid, build method, where a design is completed, bids go out for construction and the project is built based on the design.

In the general contractor/construction manager method, a firm is selected early on in the process and helps with the design and the construction of the project by working with the public entity. In order for a project to take this approach it has to be approved by the Capital Project Advisory Review Board’s Project Review Committee.

Hewett said that in the general contractor/construction manager method the contractors and designers collaborate to bring the design and the budget together during the entire process, rather than the design, bid, build method that can end up getting “surprises” with the cost.

School board member Chris Bunce asked how many projects come under budget with the general contractor/construction manager method versus the design, bid, build.

“We have yet to have a GCCM (general contractor/construction manager method) not come in at or under budget,” Keeble said.

Current projects in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, like the Asotin County Jail and the Nez Perce County Courthouse, are both using the general contractor/construction manager method. Keeble said that the Asotin County Jail project initially used the design, bid, build method but then cost was too high, so it then switched to a lower cost using the general contractor/construction manager method.

Hewett said that the private side has been using the method for decades and public entities are now able to use it.

“There’s a lot of advantages to it,” Hewett said.

By working with the contractors, designers and the public entity involved in the project, it makes adjustments on the designs easier, keeps costs for materials on budget and allows for multitasking. It can also make a project like a remodel easier because it can be done in phases. Using local contractors helps with the design to make sure supplies and designs fit with the needs of the area, like drought-resistant landscaping. Keeble also said that sometimes projects, like a school, will get grants to build a playground, which can be added during the construction process with the general contractor/construction manager method.

“Looks like something the Clarkston School District needs to look at,” Lenz said at the end of the presentation.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.