Board hears hundreds of public comments urging ‘Stage Thurston’; bond team says staging not recommended

Trustees spent more than three hours on the Thurston Elementary site plan after a public comment period dominated by pleas to “Stage Thurston” and preserve the Thurston Nature Center. Community members warned the board the current on‑site rebuild would reduce outdoor playspace, place classrooms near water and fragment a long‑tended habitat.

“Stage Thurston,” multiple speakers told the board during public comment; parents and students said staging would protect the nature center and avoid exposing children to a multi‑year construction zone. Several speakers argued the proposed site sits on a known floodplain and pointed to potential long‑term environmental and liability risks.

The bond program team and Gilbane Building Company presented technical and schedule information and urged trustees not to adopt staging for Thurston. “The team does not recommend staging for the new Thurston Elementary School,” Stephanie Corona, project executive from Gilbane, told the board, explaining constraints around classroom counts, program differences among schools and the lack of an appropriate host site nearby.

Finance staff also warned of fiscal and legal constraints tied to bond timing. “Once we issue those bonds… we have three years to spend the money,” the district’s finance director said, noting federal and IRS rules on arbitrage and the way bond schedules were calibrated to a millage plan voters approved.

Trustees pressed the bond team on alternatives — modular classrooms, moving play areas, or shifting building footprints — and asked staff about environmental work. Bond and district staff said they have conducted standard Phase I/II site assessments, soils tests, habitat reviews, noise and traffic evaluations and that those reports will be bundled for public review. They said some adjustments to the site plan have already reduced impacts to habitat and stormwater management.

Trustee Mohammed moved that the board receive the final bundled environmental and technical reports and vote on any final Thurston plan before construction work begins; after debate about precedent and timing, the motion failed on a 3–3 vote. District staff said tree and limited habitat work is scheduled to begin in early spring and that full construction would begin after school is out.

What happens next: staff will publish completed reports and continue community outreach; construction procurement timelines continued to move toward spring trade contract approvals unless the board takes a formal pause. The bond team said delays carry costs, scheduling complications for other district projects and potential bond‑issuance timing risks.

Provenance: Bond team presentation and staff briefings on staging, site constraints and environmental work; extended public comment remarks opposing on‑site rebuilding; trustee questions and the failed motion to require a board vote prior to construction (board discussion and staff responses).