The day before this year’s first day of school, Hood Canal School District broke ground on a project to upgrade school buildings, improve safety, and modernize classroom technology. Construction runs from September 2026 to August 2029.
Voters approved a six-year, $19.1 million capital levy in a February 2025 special election, with about 54% in favor. District leaders had worked with architects to shape a plan that could move forward as a levy, which needs just over half of voters’ support rather than the supermajority a bond requires.
The levy covers about $16.9 million in construction costs and about $2.2 million in technology upgrades. The state is adding $6.5 million in matching funds, made possible after Hood Canal formed a transportation partnership with Southside School District. Two smaller grants, one for accessibility upgrades and one from the Healthy Kids Healthy Schools program for the new playground, add about $350,000 more.
The Skokomish Indian Tribe is contributing as well. Connecting to the Tribe’s water system will save the district about $300,000 by removing the need for a second water tank for fire suppression, and the Tribe is helping build a new trail to campus and donating timber for new columns at the school’s entrance. Superintendent Dr. Lance Gibbon puts the full cost of the project, including that Tribal support, at close to $23 million.
“This represents a lot more than putting shovels in the ground. It marks an important time for Hood Canal School District,” said Dr. Gibbon, who led the September 1 ceremony. “We’ve seen remarkable successes here, numbers of state and even national awards, and this building is a reflection on the outside of the great things that have been happening on the inside. It’s going to open up new opportunities for our students that haven’t been possible in the past.”
Gibbon thanked local taxpayers, whose support funds most of the project, and the state for its matching funds. Board chair Edie Reclusado turned the attention to students.
“While the focus may be up here, it really is about your children,” she said. “We want the kids of our area to have the very best we can possibly offer: the best instruction in the classroom, the best playground to play on, the safest way to get on and off the bus or in and out of cars, and the latest cutting-edge materials and spaces so they can be ready for what’s coming ahead.”
She pointed to research linking music and art education to stronger performance in other subjects, including math.
“Hang with us for three years, because this is going to take some time and patience,” she said. “But [for] you and your children, this couldn’t be a better day.”
Tom Strong, chairman and CEO of the Skokomish Indian Tribe, talked about how long the Tribe has been tied to this school. The campus sits in the middle of the Skokomish Indian Reservation, on land Tribal members donated so nearby small schools could combine into one, in a safe place close to home.
“Our kids go here,” Strong said. Voters in the Skokomish community back school levies and bonds at a rate of 90% or better almost every time, he said, and the Tribe continues to help with water, land, and other project needs. “High tide raises all canoes.”
State Representative Travis Couture, who represents the 35th Legislative District, closed the ceremony. He credited the partnership between the district, the Tribe, and the community for getting the project done, and reminded the crowd that K–12 education is our state’s “paramount duty.” The project, he said, is a small share of the billions the state spends on schools each year, with returns that will show up for decades.
“We’re going to be able to look 10, 20, 30 or more years into the future and see the impacts of what we did for all these little ones here,” Couture said.
The finished project brings several new and renovated spaces to campus. A new bus loop and transportation center will replace the current entrance, improving safety and supporting the new bus partnership with Southside School District.
The area originally designed for a library will instead hold a library and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) lab, with two classrooms above it. The covered area behind the school will become a new art room. Inside, crews will build new early learning classrooms and a science lab.
Outside, students will get new playground equipment, gaga pits, basketball courts, a new covered area, and a new garden.
This groundbreaking marks the first step. Our district will share updates at each major milestone through the final phase of work in August 2029.