The Enumclaw School District has a lot on its plate.
First, there’s to be a new elementary school built in Black Diamond; second, the district needs a new superintendent.
The ESD Board of Directors met on Feb. 2 to discuss updates on both major projects with staff.
Here’s what’s going on so far.
SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
ESD’s former Superintendent Dr. Shaun Carey resigned suddenly on Jan. 12, leaving board directors scrambling to start a search for his replacement. In his place currently is Deputy Superintendent Jill Burns, previously the executive assistant to the superintendent.
Right now, the board is waiting for replies from consulting firms to help ESD perform their search.
Invitations to consulting firms were sent out on Jan. 23, with a deadline of Feb. 6.
If there are more than three or four proposals, Board Directors Tyson Gamblin and Paul Fisher will narrow down which firms to invite to a special meeting scheduled for Feb. 23.
The district hopes to hire a consulting firm and start a superintendent search by March 2.
It’s unclear at this time how long a search may take.
SCHOOL DESIGN
The Enumclaw school District is a long ways away from starting to build a new school in the Ten Trails development in Black Diamond.
For those who need a reminder of recent history, the funds for this school are coming from the Ten Trails developer Oakpointe after the district was unable to secure traditional funding means – a.k.a. through a taxpayer bond.
ESD will sell Oakpointe a plot of land it controls in the Ten Trails development for $40 million; Oakpointe is also loaning the district $25 million, to be paid back via mitigation fees collected from housing developers overtime.
The district contracted with Tacoma-based TCF Architecture for design and John Korsmo Construction for construction during its Jan. 20 meeting.
Already approved are the district’s architectural standards, education specifications, and building siting; also complete is the sports field sighting (Oakpointe is gifting the district a further $3 million for the development of two sports fields at the school, both for ESD and the city of Black Diamond to share).
Next up is a meeting of the design advisory committee, tasked with giving input on classroom layouts, educational spaces, tech integration, and more. The first meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12.
An oversight committee is also meeting on Feb. 12 to monitor the project progress and budget.
Both committees will meet together later in the month to forge a community communication strategy and then later in mid-March to plan a community outreach event.
And at the same time, the district will advertise for a planning principal, someone who is typically hired about a year before the opening of the school.
This person manages hiring, prepares operational procedures, builds community identity, and more to help the first year of a new school start out strong.
The community can expect to meet with the planning principal later this spring to go over school name, colors, and logo ideas.
