Tacoma School District aims to keep Whittier students on campus during rebuild

The Tacoma School District presented plans to rebuild Whittier Elementary School while keeping students on-site, saying the district will seek variances and partner with the City of Fircrest to use adjacent park areas for construction staging.

District staff described community meetings and said the selected design-build team, Cornerstone, proposes siting a new two‑story building on the school's existing play field so the current building can remain occupied during construction. The presentation said the proposal departs from some Fircrest zoning standards — in particular building height limits — but that Fircrest city officials and the city manager provided written support on April 11.

Why it matters: Keeping students on campus reduces displacement of families and avoids a temporary relocation to off‑site swing space. The district said cost and safety trade‑offs will drive the ultimate decision and that each school site is evaluated on its own physical constraints.

Superintendent Garcia and district staff said the plan depends on negotiated use of Whittier Park for material laydown and temporary trailers. “Without that cooperation, there’s no way that we could actually do this with students on-site,” district staff member Morris said during the presentation. The district described a tight site and said the proposal likely requires code exceptions; staff reported they expect to present to Fircrest’s planning commission for formal review of those exceptions.

The district also said it will form a Design Advisory Committee (DAC) for Whittier that will include office staff, administrators and community members and will be advised by a student committee on interior decisions. The district noted the Whittier DAC will include representatives who are not always part of previous DACs so neighborhood residents and planning-commission designees can offer earlier input.

Board members thanked staff for community outreach and emphasized that student safety is the controlling factor. One director noted the district has secured variances for past projects, and staff said that site‑by‑site determinations — not a blanket policy — will determine whether other schools can remain occupied during rebuilding.

Next steps listed by staff included forming the Whittier DAC, completing planning‑commission review in Fircrest, and advancing design and construction documents if variances and interlocal agreements are approved.

The district did not schedule a vote on the Whittier plan at this meeting; staff said the next formal milestones are planning‑commission review and subsequent design approvals.