REDMOND, OR -- Redmond-area voters are expected to be asked in November to approve a $97 million school bond, part of which would cover the cost of fixing the failing HVAC system and roof at Redmond High.  We’re learning more about plans for the RHS building, if the district decides to move forward with a proposal to consolidate high schools at Ridgeview. 

Superintendent Dr. Charan Cline says RHS would be repurposed, "We’re going to actually develop an alternative high school in that building, which will handle about 150 kids. We have a lot of students that just have a hard time with regular schools and so we’d create an alternative track there for kids who need something a little different; a little more supportive." He adds, "We also have a behavior program over at what’s the Brown building; that would move into that building. We would sell that Brown building. We would also move our district office over into that space, thus selling our district office space." Cline tells KBND News, "The sale of Brown would be used to do some minor modifications of Redmond High, to make it work for those purposes. The middle of the building, we would actually build community-use space; classrooms that people could use for meeting rooms, big empty spaces people could do productions in."

He says those sales would also provide the district with long-term savings, "So, we take two albatrosses, if you will, off the district’s books - buildings that are hard to maintain, buildings that are really getting fairly old. And we take the money we gain from that to do the remodels at Redmond High, to make that a good space for a lot of different educational purposes."

For RHS to remain a traditional high school, Cline says it would also need expensive repairs to the theater and locker rooms, which aren’t necessary under his plan, "For me, the idea of fixing Redmond High, continuing to do this kind of work, is putting Band-Aids on a problem. We have problems with our district office building; we have problems with the Brown schools."

Earlier this month, Redmond Schools released the results of a community poll, showing support for the consolidation idea. A bond committee is finalizing a list of project recommendations, which will then get voted on by the school board before it goes to the November ballot. Cline says public listening sessions will be held soon to gather more feedback.