Construction of new northside elementary school to begin this June

After a four year delay, construction of a new elementary school on Aldrich road that will serve the Sunnyland, Birchwood, and Alderwood neighborhoods is scheduled to begin in June, according to the Bellingham School District Director of Communications Tanya Rowe.

The elementary school will enroll 343 students from the Northside elementary schools, Alderwood, Birchwood, Northern Heights and Sunnyland.

The majority of the students (a total of 125) would be transferred from Sunnyland, which is currently operating over capacity in terms of enrollment, according to the district.

“We have every class space being used in the [Sunnyland] building with six portables outside and no more space on the grounds for additional portables,” said Rowe.

Approved by voters in 2006, the new school was part of a $67 million bond that included a number of other projects, such as the seismic retro fittings of Lowell Elementary and Whatcom Middle School, said Rowe.

Construction of the school was delayed due to permitting issues and the fire at Whatcom in 2009, said Rowe.

Northside schools seeing increasing enrollment, but current class sizes not a concern for parents

According to the school district, total enrollment at Alderwood, Birchwood, Northern Heights and Sunnyland has increased by 182 students since 2006.

But, there haven't been any noticeable complaints from parents and staff about the class sizes at Sunnyland, which average between 21-23 students, according to Yvtte Lundy, parent of two Sunnyland students.

Lundy said that she feels that building a new school in the midst of recent budget cuts is unnecessary, and will divert important funding from other areas.

“[The district] is crying 'poor, poor, poor' and here they are building a new school, which I think is crazy,” she said.

But, because the school is being funded by a voter-approved, capital facilities bond, the money set aside for the school cannot be reallocated, according to state law, said Rowe.

“If we [the district] were to say 'We're not going to build Aldrich, we're not going to use that money from our voters' we wouldn't be able to use that money for staffing and other needs, we would just be turning it away,” she said.

School could temporarily be used for other purposes, depending on need

Expected to be completed in June 2011, the school could be used as a temporary facility to fill other needs depending on the rate of enrollment at the Northside schools and whether or not it will be necessary to reallocate students, according to the district.

The building could be used to house either Whatcom middle school students in 2011 or as a temporary space for the district central services as the Roeder Administrative building will be undergoing seismic retrofitting, Rowe said.