Cd'A School Board approves bid for new elementary school

Ginno Construction Company will break ground this month on a new elementary school to serve students in the northern part of the Coeur d’Alene School District. The 53,355-square-foot school is scheduled to open in September 2020 as the Northwest Expedition Academy, serving around 600 students in kindergarten through grade 5.

The Board of Trustees for Coeur d’Alene Public Schools voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve Ginno Construction as the general contractor for the project. Ginno was the low bidder of four bids received at $10,740,000. The total project budget is just under $12.5 million, which includes architectural and engineering fees, furnishings and fixtures, technology components, and contingency costs.

“Our most recent new school was the rebuild of Winton Elementary, which we opened four years ago,” said Dr. Kate Orozco, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education and Instruction. “This new school will be equally impressive and serve families in one of the fastest-growing areas of our community. We can’t wait to see the foundations set and walls rise over the coming months.”

Ginno also completed expansion projects for Coeur d’Alene High School and Lake City High School last fall, and the Coeur d’Alene-based company is working on an expansion and remodel of Lakes Middle School this summer. All of the projects are part of the $35.5 million bond measure approved by voters in March 2017.

The new elementary school will be built on the south side of Prairie Avenue, a quarter-mile west of Ramsey Road. The school district purchased the 7.1-acre site for $1.1 million in May 2018, and the Board of Trustees voted in April to designate the school the new home of Northwest Expedition Academy (NExA). NExA opened in 2017 and has been using the former Hayden Lake School site on North Government Way.

The school district will establish an attendance zone for the new elementary school during the coming school year as part of a review of all school attendance zones in the district.

The board also voted Tuesday to go ahead with several alternative options for the Lakes Middle School project. They include the addition of a visitor parking lot on the east side of the school ($148,000), a modified track for P.E. classes and track and field team use on the west side of the school ($84,000), and minor upgrades inside the school ($49,600).