On-Base Schools Lined Up for Money

As parents and school children know, the on-base elementary schools are heavily overcrowded and functionally obsolete.

That was proven in a recent DoD study which ranked Joint Base Lewis-McChord elementary schools in bands 1-2-4 and 6.  More information on the rankings and their placement on the scale is available here.

Debbie LeBeau, Superintendent, Clover Park School District, which operates but does not own the schools on JBLM, briefed attendees at this month’s Military Affairs Forum just after returning from Washington, D.C. where she conferenced with the Office of Economic Adjustment, a DoD agenda administering a $250 million fund for fixing the problem.

Clover Park S.D. expects to receive funds for replacing Hillside elemen- tary with a new 650 student facility and consolidating Carter Lake and Heartwood elementarys into one new 500 student school, because of their very high priority rankings in the study. The grant is a reimbursable program, but LeBeau consider Clover Park S.D. to have the financial flexibility to take advantage of the opportunity. 

If money continues to be available this year (unlikely), or if Congress continues to fund the program (hopefully), the next project for JBLM schools would be to consolidate Greenwood and Clarkmoor into one new 650 student school.