News & Information
The Bellingham School District has hired Dawson Construction to begin emergency work on Whatcom Middle School to make the building safe for fire and structural personnel to perform their investigation and initial damage assessment from the Nov. 5 fire.
The goal is to have the building ready for these trained personnel to enter by Nov. 30. They will then begin their investigation into the cause of the fire and to assess the extent of the damage. The investigation and assessment will take approximately one month or more from the time that they are able to enter the building. Whatcom is under 24-hour security, seven days a week so that the building cannot be accessed, except by emergency personnel only. The structure is unsafe and trespassing on the property is cause for arrest.
"We remain committed to relentlessly pursuing the rebuilding of Whatcom," says School Board Director Dr. Ken Gass. "We will not know what is possible until trained personnel are able to get inside the building and complete their assessment. In the early 1990s, the School Board determined that our community needed four middle schools with about 600-700 students each. Our current School Board supports this philosophy and we are anxious to learn details about the extent of the fire damage to Whatcom and to share that information with our community in January, when we expect to know more."
Whatcom students and staff have been in their relocation sites for one week now by grade level at Geneva Elementary (grade six), Fairhaven Middle School (grade seven), Bellingham High School (grade eight) and the special education BRIDGES program at Squalicum High School. Staff are closely monitoring student needs. Families are encouraged to stay in close communication with Whatcom staff and school administrators to address any issues (please click here for Whatcom staff contact information).
"Our top priority was to get our Whatcom students back to class as soon as possible with an immediate solution and then to begin long-term planning," says Acting Superintendent Sherrie Brown.
"We need to assess how the current placement of students is working and determine if the current relocation sites are feasible for the remainder of this school year or if adjustments are needed," Brown added. "Next, we will need to begin planning for an interim solution until a new Whatcom is ready. Depending on the damage assessment, rebuilding or renovating could take a minimum of a couple of years -- if expedited -- to allow for the required planning, design, permitting and construction."
No decisions have been made regarding the interim placement of Whatcom students and staff for next school year and beyond, while the rebuilding of Whatcom is being pursued. The district received many ideas from staff, parents and community members regarding interim locations for Whatcom students.
"We will be reviewing multiple options again and evaluating the feasibility of each scenario based upon many considerations, including learning needs, capacity, transportation, special needs and more," Brown says. "Before a decision is made regarding interim relocation for next school year and beyond, we will be working closely with our students and families to gather their input on feasible scenarios. A process and timeline for input has not yet been determined, but this information will be shared in the new year."
Unlike the emergency relocation plan that is currently in place, the next phase of relocation for Whatcom students and staff will be for a longer period of time and gathering input will be part of the process in order to minimize the impact on students, families and staff.
"I continue to ask for our community's support and patience. Please know that we are working very hard to ensure that our Whatcom students are supported in effective learning environments, along with all of the students in our district," Brown says. "We still have many, many unanswered questions and planning for the future will take time."
To help address rumors, the district has launched a new Whatcom Middle School Update Web page. Information on this page will be regularly updated and shared as soon as it is available. Stakeholders are encouraged to register for e-news for updates via e-mail.