CLARKSTON, WA – The Clarkston School Board tonight (agenda) voted unanimously in support of a resolution to seek voter approval of a 25-year Capital Improvements Bond to reconstruct the high school. District patrons will decide the future of the long-planned improvements during a Special Election in April.
To vote on the Clarkston High School Bond, an individual must reside within the district boundaries (a map can be found here). Ballots will be mailed on April 8th and the deadline to vote is April 25th.
The new construction at Charles Francis Adams High School would cost an estimated $88.9 million with $9.5 million of that coming from matching funds. The new bond is expected to cost property owners $2.73 to $3.11 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Previous efforts to modernize Clarkston High School, in 2011 and 2017, would have cost much less at $45 million and $65 million respectively, supporters say.
Numerous community members spoke in favor of the modernization project prior to the board’s vote, including Jeff Marshall. He graduated from CHS in 1994.
Marshall says past efforts to stall the construction of a modern Clarkston High School have succeeded in their effort to keep taxes as low as possible. But he asked, “at what cost.”
Marshall says when he looks around at the community’s young people, the world that we have now, post-COVID, is not the same as the one we used to have.
Also commenting was Tri-State Memorial Hospital CEO Kym Clift, who delivered a letter of support from the hospital’s Board of Directors. That letter encourages the community to support the modernization of the high school.
Clift says they have “high hopes” that the Certified Nursing Assistant course at Clarkston High School will become a steady source for the hospital. They anticipate requiring over 100 CNAs over the next decade.
The Vote Yes! CHS site was recently created with a frequently asked questions page, drawings of the proposed construction, and other data.
“The concept design for reinvestment in Clarkston High School retains and enhances the taxpayer’s investment in the Adams Building, Auditorium, and Technology Building by constructing a new school along the east wall of the Auditorium,” the site says.
The new high school, if approved, would include:
- Job-like career and technical education classrooms
- Quality facilities for quality education
- Safe and secure campus
- Expanded space for community use
Phase I construction would take place between 2024 and 2026 with an opening date of January 2027. Phase II would last one year and be completed in 2028, according to the Vote Yes! CHS site.
CHS was named after Charles Francis Adams (1835-1915), a wealthy Boston-area businessman who helped to organize the Lewiston Water & Power Company. Learn more here: https://magazine.wsu.edu/2012/07/30/the-perfect-city/
Concept photos:
Early photo of CHS: https://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/digital/collection/asotin/id/1284/
Charles Francis Adams High School, Clarkston, Washington, circa 1923-1939
