Moses Lake (Wash.) district begins construction of $18 million elementary

The Moses Lake (Wash.) School District has begun construction of Vicki I. Groff Elementary School — the district's 11th elementary campus.

The Columbia Basin Herald reports that the $18 million, 450-student elementary school is one of two new elementary schools Moses Lake will be constructing following a revision to the $135 million construction bond proposal passed in February 2017.

The bond request, which passed by only three votes, originally was intended to pay for construction of a second, 1,600-student high school and another elementary school.

However, a yearlong challenge to the bond election, as well as the election of two new school board members who are opposed to building a 1,600-student high school, forced the district to rethink how the construction bond money would be used.

In 2019, board members decided to build a smaller, 900-student high school as well as two new elementary schools after concluding that would better suit the district’s needs.

Groff Elementary is expected to be completed and ready for students in summer 2021. The site for the second new elementary school has not yet been chosen.