Aberdeen School District wins seismic grant; plans four rebuilt schools with minimal local tax dollars

Aberdeen School District co-superintendents Tracy Sandstrom and Lynn Green told the Aberdeen City Council on March 26 that the district has been awarded a state seismic safety grant that could fund four new or rebuilt school buildings with little to no taxpayer dollars.

The grant will be paired with state School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) matching funds, Sandstrom said, and the district is working through site selection, environmental testing and design phases. "We were awarded the grant," Sandstrom said, "and there's 5 districts around the area that have received the grant." She added the award means the district can build new facilities without the typical local bond financing model.

The district will not replace Aberdeen High School because it is too new to qualify, and preschool programs do not qualify for the K–12 program, Sandstrom said. Four elementary or other buildings in the district were identified as candidates for replacement; other elementary schools qualified for retrofitting instead of replacement. Lynn Green said the district is considering consolidating five elementary schools into four to maximize square footage and enrollment funding when new schools are built.

District staff described a four-phase process: grant award and geotechnical studies; conceptual design and educational specifications; detailed design; and construction when projects are "shovel ready" and selected for funding in the state biennium. Green said Harbor Learning Center (formerly Harvard High School) is first in the district’s construction timeline because the district already owns a site near Aberdeen High School and the land testing has cleared the way. "I expect that we'll go into schematic design by late spring or early summer," Green said of Harbor Learning Center.

For two of the new campuses the district reported it is in purchase-and-sale or intent-to-purchase agreements for sites outside the inundation zone; the North Aberdeen site shown to the council totals a little over 95 acres and is planned to hold Miller Junior High plus a new elementary on the same parcel. Green emphasized purchases are contingent on favorable environmental and geotechnical reports: "We've signed agreements and intent to purchase those properties, but there has not been an actual purchase that has gone through on either site until all of that testing is completed and we receive a final report."

The district projected an overall timeline that stretches roughly eight years for all projects to be completed, dependent on the state’s biennial funding cycles and the order in which shovel-ready projects are funded. Green said Harbor Learning Center is slated to start construction first, with other projects following as site work and design progress.

Council members asked about infrastructure needs — sidewalks, fire access and utilities — and whether the city would partner on improvements. Green and Sandstrom said early conversations with city departments have begun and that specific infrastructure requirements will be defined during site design and permitting. "We have to have sidewalks for kids to walk to school," Green said, adding that the district’s project team has already reached out to the city about access and emergency services.

The district repeatedly cautioned that many details remain in progress: property acquisitions are conditional on studies, design choices remain in the schematic phase, and timing depends on when projects become shovel ready and when the state allocates funds.

The district offered to return with updates as projects move through design and permitting.

Why it matters: The grant would shift financing for building new schools away from local bond measures and toward state seismic and SCAP funds, with long-term implications for property use, enrollment patterns and potential surplus property in Aberdeen if consolidation reduces the number of elementary campuses.