BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine Schools is preparing for students to return in just a few weeks, "We’re ramping up for 33 schools’ worth of students. So, getting that all in place and all in order," Superintendant Dr. Stephen Cook tells KBND News, "And trying to close up construction and projects that we’ve been working on this summer so schools are ready when kids and families return. There’s just a lot that we have to get going." He's also looking ahead to a number of bond-funded projects, "Just to update buildings for seismic expectations and things for earthquake - that kind of stuff."

Dr. Cook tells KBND News, "We’re going to be building a new gymnasium at Sky view, going to do some work at Juniper Elementary School, and probably the most common project that everybody might be aware of or know about is the renovation at Bend High. There’s a lot of planning and design work going on right now." Work at Juniper and Bend Senior High is funded by the $250 million bond passed by voters in 2022. The project at Juniper involves moving the main office for better visibility. Construction won't begin on the Bend High renovation for a while, "We anticipate the shovels hitting the dirt on that project, which will be the lion’s-share of that $250 million, probably breaking ground next summer." 

First, Cook says, new high-tech door locks and handles are coming to school classrooms, "You think about the thousands of classroom doors we have in our 33 schools; that’s no small task. And I think, right now, we have a list of schools to get started on. As soon as this fall, we’ll be working on those."

Dr. Cook says they’re also wrapping up projects funded by the 2017 bond. 

Image: Architectural rendering of early design plans for BSHS funded by the 2017 bond.