After Delay, Chehalis School Board Charges Forward on Second New School

After months of delay due to a lack of action by the state Legislature, construction of a second new elementary school in Chehalis is within sight.

The Chehalis School District Board of Directors approved two resolutions to move forward with the construction of the Orin Smith Intermediate School at its meeting on Tuesday night. The board unanimously voted in favor both of approving the intent to construct Orin Smith Intermediate School and to award the construction bid to FORMA Construction, an Olympia-based contractor.

“People are very relieved that we’re finally able to get started,” Chehalis Schools Superintendent Ed Rothlin told The Chronicle. “We’ve been very patient and, as a result of the postponement, there were a lot of unanswered questions. Teachers, students and parents are anxious. And now that we have a bid and we have a contractor we can get answers to those questions.”

After state lawmakers failed to pass a capital budget last year, it delayed many local projects that were expecting state funding — including Phase 2 of a two-phase project to build two elementary schools in Chehalis.

Voters approved a $36 million bond for the construction projects in 2015. The Legislature finally approved the capital budget earlier this year, providing the $25 million in state funding through the School Construction Assistance Program the district had budgeted for.

“The architects and project managers did some projections and what we heard is close to a $600,000 increase as a result of the delay based on our estimates, which are just estimates,” Rothlin said. “But we are still within budget.”

FORMA construction was also awarded the bid for Phase 1 of the project, which is the construction of the James Lintott Primary School set to house pre-kindergarten through second grade.

“Phase 1 is on schedule and on budget,” Rothlin said. “We should be moving into that building late June, early July.”

Rothlin said he expects construction on the Orin Smith Intermediate School to be complete by April 2019, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions in the meantime.

“We haven’t scheduled a parent meeting, but we have plans to schedule one in the next couple months,” Rothlin said. “Once we figure out the answers to our questions, and I’ve briefed the board, then we’ll schedule a parent meeting and fill them in on what next school year will look like.”

The land for the new schools was donated by Gail and Carolyn Shaw.

In another construction project in the district, a new state-of-the-art science, technology, engineering and mathematics wing was officially opened last month at W.F. West High School.