School board approves preferred rebuild options for West and Highland high schools

The Salt Lake City School District Board of Education on Dec. 3 approved recommended rebuilding plans for West and Highland high schools, endorsing a faster construction phasing that officials say will limit student disruption and better control costs.

District staff recommended “Option 3” for West High and “Option 1, Addendum C” for Highland High. The board voted to approve the recommendations after a multi-hour presentation outlining site layouts, phasing, cost estimates and community outreach.

District Director of Auxiliary Services Isaac Astell, who led the presentation, said the recommended West option places a new academic building on the east side of Third West to allow most construction to occur off the existing campus and avoid keeping students in portables for extended periods. “It’s the fastest schedule. We can potentially, from the time we break ground, three years later, we could be transferring every the students and teachers over to the other side,” Astell said. For Highland, Astell said the preferred option places the new building on the north end of the…