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JUNE 2019
The detailed timeline for Elementary #18 is now available, and it looks like construction will begin in late March of 2020. There is a lot to be completed before then, including a traffic study, design and permitting, but so far everything is on track for the start of the 2021/22 school year.
Elementary #19
We are currently planning for our second new elementary school to be located in the Lipoma Firs community. The School Board recently authorized the Superintendent and Director of Construction and Planning to conduct a feasibility evaluation of the land there.
Because the Lipoma Firs community falls within both the Bethel and Puyallup school district boundaries, work needed to be done to identify which houses would be in which districts.
The current boundary between the districts follows the township section line, not the proposed parcel lines. Both districts worked together to redraw the boundary before the houses were occupied. The proposed line now follows the roads instead of running through proposed living rooms.
The proposed boundary results in one single-family lot gain by Puyallup and a gain of 2.5 acres of multi-family to Bethel.
Bethel and Puyallup staff will now move forward with Educational Service District 121 to modify the boundary as shown below. Click here to read more!
May 2019
The new Bethel High School will be build on the district-owned property located behind Rainier View Church near 224th and 70th in Graham.The dust has settled on our historic February bond election and the hard work of designing and building schools is now underway. We know that you, as members of the Bethel community, have entrusted us to be good stewards of your tax dollars. Part of that stewardship is keeping you informed and educated, so we will be using this space to give you regular updates on all our bond-related projects.
Elementary #18
Things are progressing nicely with the architectural design of our newest elementary school, and it’s looking like the School Board will begin reviewing the plans next month.
While we don’t yet know the exact design, we do know that Elementary #18 will be the largest elementary school in the district. The school will be 80,000 square feet, and will be home to 700 students — and that’s not counting the space in back for four double portables (8 classrooms) which will house an additional 200 students. In order to comfortably accommodate all of those students, Elementary #18 will utilize a three-wing model, similar to Spanaway Middle School.
Elementary #18 will also get “half street improvements” — these include pavement from the center line, curbs, gutters, stormwater facilities, and sidewalks — along the entire parcel owned by the district on Waller Road. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons we won’t be able to build a sidewalk any further than our property lines because Pierce County won’t allow us to just put in a sidewalk or an asphalt pathway. They require complete “half street” improvements. In addition, those improvements would need a larger right-of-way than what currently exists, so it would also require the district to acquire quite a bit of property from multiple property owners, which would be cost-prohibitive.
To learn more, click here!
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