Kennewick reviews capital projects, Tri-Tech remodel and $2 million general-fund transfer to capital

The Kennewick School District board received a detailed capital projects and budget update Tuesday, including completed summer work, ongoing Tri-Tech Skill Center construction, several site-specific infrastructure needs and an anticipated $2 million transfer from the district general fund into the capital projects fund.

District staff said summer 2025 paving projects included repairs at Lampstad Stadium and other parking-lot work, and the school opened a new video board installed in partnership with a local sponsor. Staff also described an urgent food-services freezer repair that required temporary measures and a planned compressor replacement expected to be completed within the 2025–26 budget year.

Presenters said Tri-Tech Skill Center construction is the district’s largest active project. The general contractor is Sherwood Hill Construction; staff reported roofing tear-off, sewer tie-ins along Kellogg and other infrastructure work are underway and expected to conclude in mid-2026, with some reimbursements to be received in the following budget year.

On the capital budget, the district presented categorical allocations the board can expect for 2025–26, including roughly $250,000 for exterior upgrades (roofs, parking), about $315,000 for interior infrastructure (carpet, lighting), roughly $150,000 for equipment (vehicles, forklifts, kilns), about $130,000 anticipated for fencing work, and approximately $200,000 noted as a playground equipment estimate. Presenters emphasized these are flexible, cyclical allocations and that some large, reimbursable costs tied to the Tri-Tech project create timing differences between expenditures and reimbursements across fiscal years.

Staff also described site projects in planning or construction: a city-funded underground stormwater solution on the Southridge campus (the city will fund and build the system; district staff said it will be largely underground and should not reduce athletic-field usability), a Conway Place sidewalk and flashing-beacon crosswalk installed in partnership with the city to improve student routes to Westgate Elementary and the Discovery Center, and design work for an ECAP (early childhood) parking expansion at the Amistad site (the ECAP program’s state funding will support the project). Staff noted the ECAP parking project will include the district’s first electric vehicle charging station to meet new code requirements where applicable.

Board members asked for clarification on funding: staff said the $2,000,000 transfer from the general fund into capital projects is a planned annual mechanism to ensure adequate cash for scheduled replacements and smaller projects and that bond proceeds remaining from an earlier bond sale are not shown on that operating slide because they are not being spent currently. Staff added that technology-levy revenues are handled in the capital fund for technology items (servers, cameras, computers) and that surplus sales and investment earnings are modest annual revenue sources for capital projects.

Other facility items mentioned included irrigation and pump replacements, a missing flagpole at a main field that staff agreed to address, and an HVAC/chiller replacement project scheduled to begin Nov. 3 at one building (presenters said the project will span roughly six weeks with about two weeks of the most intensive outage work). District staff emphasized they will coordinate construction timing to avoid interfering with athletic seasons and school operations where feasible.

Board members indicated continued attention to the long-term facilities plan and said more specific bond/timing analysis will occur in mid-2026 as state funding eligibility and local enrollment projections become clearer.