SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Central Valley School District is upgrading entrances at 10 schools to improve safety. The project, initially set for six years, is now scheduled to be completed by the end of next summer.
At Greenacres Middle School, the need for an update became a top priority.
“In this particular school, if somebody entered the front door, they were not only in the hallway, they had access to the entire part of the school, the commons, the cafeteria where kids eat lunch and the hallways to go throughout the school,” said Jerrol Olson, Executive Director of Facilities & Planning for Central Valley School District.
Safety vestibules, an extra set of doors beyond the outer door, are currently being built in five schools: Broadway Elementary, Summit K-8 School, Progress Elementary, Greenacres Middle School and Liberty Lake Elementary.
“We want a single point of entry that is clearly defined. So when somebody comes to the school, they know where to enter the school. They enter into a vestibule that allows us to vet them and make sure that they are somebody who has a reason to be in our school,” Olson said.
The funding for these projects comes from a capital levy that voters approved in 2024.
“Our board chose to exercise a little bit of creative financing and to our benefit, to the benefit of our community was able to get the funding more up front,” Olson said.
Construction on the five schools currently being worked on is expected to wrap up before the school year begins.
“We’ll do five more schools next summer,” Olson said.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
