Out with the old: C.O. school projects underway

The sound of excavators can be heard in Culver.

It’s a sign for some that the fourth time was the charm after voters approved an $8.8 million school bond to upgrade the district’s buildings.

“It’s been a long time coming, it feels like,” said Culver Superintendent Stefanie Garber. “I was a part of the failed bond measures, and this is the first November since I’ve been superintendent that we’re not going out for a bond.”

Garber says it’s out with the old. Students can kiss the exposed wires and space heaters inside classrooms goodbye.

“My days will be spent on curriculum and kids and not always Band-Aiding things together,” she said.

In 18 months, it will be in with the new.

“We’ll be building a new corridor at the elementary, an addition at the high school and adding two classrooms at the middle school,” Garber added.

In Prineville, work is underway on the new Barnes Butte Elementary. The 73,000 square-foot facility will incorporate a pod configuration, a grouping of classrooms that surround a central community-room pod.

In Warm Springs, the 80,000-square-foot K-8 school that’s been 30 years in the making will be welcoming its first students in just a few weeks.

Back in Culver, bricks and debris are a positive sign.

“It’s going to be messy for the next year and a half, but it will be well worth it,” Garber said.

While construction is underway, Culver students will move into portable modular classrooms. The new wings should be open for students in December 2015.