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Issaquah board approves guaranteed maximum price, intent to construct new high school
Summary
The Issaquah School District board adopted two resolutions March 11 approving a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the new high school construction contract and an intent‑to‑construct resolution required for state school construction assistance. The motions passed by voice vote.
The Issaquah School District board on March 11 approved a guaranteed maximum price and an intent‑to‑construct resolution for the district’s new high school, moving the project out of preconstruction and into active procurement.
Tom Mullins, the district’s director of capital projects, told the board the design‑build team (Skanska with Bassetti) proposed a construction GMP of $99,002,973; with Washington state sales tax that total is $108,807,012. Mullins said soft costs are about $44 million and contingency roughly $14.8 million, placing the total project budget at roughly $168 million. “If the work ends up costing less, the savings typically return to the owner,” Mullins said, describing the guaranteed maximum price approach.
Board member Director Coyne moved adoption of resolution 1259 to approve the GMP and an amendment to the owner‑design builder agreement; Director Anderson seconded. The chair called the voice vote and announced the motion passed. Director Coyne then moved resolution 1260, the district’s intent‑to‑construct required by OSPI for School Construction Assistance Program funding; Director Anderson seconded and the board approved that motion as well.
Mullins described project timing and permitting: site‑work permitting is pending, site work could begin as soon as April 1, and the district still targets an opening on Aug. 27. He said the GMP number includes sales tax and noted the contractor’s raw construction price without tax is roughly $99 million.
Board members asked about change‑order controls and contingency reporting; Mullins said the contractor’s GMP includes small contingencies for missed scope and design changes that are tracked internally and that the board and capital‑projects oversight committee will be updated regularly if internal contingencies begin to be consumed. The superintendent and board emphasized transparency about spending and noted the district has created a project FAQ page on the capital projects website.
The board will forward required resolutions and documentation to OSPI to secure state assistance under the School Construction Assistance Program. The board’s motions concluded the capital projects segment of the March 11 meeting.
The district is expected to bring routine construction‑phase updates to future board meetings and post additional FAQ information online.
