Facilities & Planning

The Washington Growth Management Act (GMA) outlines thirteen broad goals including adequate provision of necessary public facilities and services, including public schools. The Everett Public Schools has developed a capital facilities plan to satisfy the requirements of RCW 36.70A.070, and to identify additional school facilities necessary to meet the educational needs of the growing student populations anticipated in the district.

The district’s Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) is intended to provide the Everett School District (District), Snohomish County, and other jurisdictions a description of facilities needed to accommodate projected student enrollment at acceptable levels of service through the year 2044, and a more detailed schedule and financing program for capital improvements over the six-year period, 2024-29.

In accordance with GMA mandates, and Chapter 30.66C Snohomish County Code (SCC), this CFP contains the following required elements:

• Future enrollment forecasts for each grade span (elementary K-5, middle 6-8, and high 9-12).
• An inventory of existing capital facilities owned by the district, showing the locations, sizes and student capacities of the facilities.
• A forecast of the future needs for capital facilities and school sites, distinguishing between existing and projected deficiencies.
• The proposed capacities of expanded or new capital facilities.
• A 6-year plan for financing capital facilities within projected funding capacities, which clearly identifies sources of public money for such purposes. The financing plan separates projects and portions of projects which add capacity from those which do not, since the latter are generally not appropriate for impact fee funding. The financing plan and/or the impact fee calculation formula must also differentiate between projects or portions of projects which address existing deficiencies (ineligible for impact fees) and those which address future growth-related needs.
• A calculation of impact fees to be assessed and support data substantiating said fees.
• In developing this CFP, the guidelines of Appendix F of the General Policy Plan were used as follows:
  • Information was obtained from recognized sources, such as the U.S. Census or the Puget Sound Regional Council.
  • School districts may generate their own data if it is derived through statistically reliable methodologies.
  • Information is to be consistent with the State Office of Financial Management (OFM) population forecasts and those of Snohomish County.
  • Chapter 30.66C SCC requires that student generation rates be independently calculated by each school district. Rates were updated for this CFP.
  • The CFP complies with RCW 36.70A (the Growth Management Act) and, where impact fees are to be assessed, RCW 82.02.
  • The calculation methodology for impact fees meets the conditions and tests of RCW 82.02. Districts which propose the use of impact fees should identify in future plan updates alternative funding sources in the event that impact fees are not available due to action by the state, county or the cities within their district boundaries.

The replacement capital levy ballot measure passed on the February 8, 2022 election. 
Information provided by staff at board meetings is located here:
August 18, 2020 Capital Bond Update
October 13, 2020 Capital Levy Planning
October 13, 2020 Information about Future Capital Levies
May 6, 2021 - Capital Levy Planning
August 17, 2021 - Capital Levy Update
November 9, 2021 - Approval of Resolution 1268, Replacement of Expiring Capital Levy

To ensure that its school buildings are physically sound and meet educational program needs, the Everett Public Schools has implemented a systematic long-range modernization program. This means that every facility in the district will be completely modernized every 40 to 48 years, depending on voter support and funding availability. Here is the 48 year modernization cycle.

A complete modernization means a complete remodel/upgrade of a school. It includes all major building systems, such as heating, lighting, electrical, windows and roofing. Code compliance and the building’s fit with the educational program are also addressed. Typically, a modernization program addresses only the school building itself, not fields or play equipment. A modernization may also result in a partial or full replace of an existing building if it is determined that upgrading the existing facility will be too expensive

When a replacement building option is chosen, school usually continues to take place in the old building while the new building is built on site. If a modernization building option is chosen, classes also continue to be held but access to playing fields and some areas of the site and building will be restricted during construction.

Long-range enrollment projections are essential in the planning process to identify and provide for the district's long-range facility needs. Every February or March, the school board is presented information on how enrollment projections are used by the district, how they are produced, and an update on short- and long-term enrollment projections based on the district's actual October 1 enrollment counts.

Here is the  “Enrollment Outlook 2024-2033” presentation and William L ("Les") Kendrick Ph.D. "Enrollment Trends and Projections".

Enrollment projections from multiple sources are used by district staff to plan for future facilities and program needs. The methodologies used for these projections consider many factors to develop short- and long-range enrollment forecasts. These factors include grade progression (student cohort survival ratios), birth rates, population growth, construction of new housing, student generation rates for housing, private school enrollment, and other demographic trends to predict enrollment. These enrollment projections, in turn, provide foundational support for numerous processes in the district including budgeting, staffing, capital facilities planning updates, determination of school impact and mitigation fees, bond and levy planning, portable classroom relocations, approvals of variances, and program locations.

Property management planning is the process used to plan and manage the development, use, and disposition of real estate owned by the district. The implications of property management are evident in the district's strategic plan priorities to utilize and generate resources in support of student learning, and to support strategic partners whose work is aligned with our mission. 

Short- and long-term options for individual property use is detailed in the school board-approved Property Use Matrix

The philosophy behind how all district-owned properties are managed and used is outlined in the school board-approved Property Use Framework. 

The Everett School District recognizes that school boundaries need to be modified occasionally to respond to changes in student enrollment or educational programs. Boundary changes can be an effective method of reducing the need for new school construction, and are also necessary when new schools or classroom additions are built. A good example of changing school boundaries to reduce the need for new schools occurred in the fall of 2015 when the district instituted a limited re-configuration of elementary school boundaries in response to significant enrollment growth at Woodside Elementary School in the southern end of the district. Boundary changes, can be received as disruptive to the educational program and to the lives of students and their parents. Therefore, careful consideration of the following should be given before implementing any boundary change:

• The potential impacts, both positive and negative, of any proposed boundary changes should be carefully evaluated.
• Boundary changes should only be implemented after appropriate input and discussions with affected parties and careful consideration of alternative solutions.
• Boundary changes should be made in the context of long term solutions. Short term solutions not addressing long term issues should be avoided.
• Natural or manmade barriers to safe and efficient routes should be taken into consideration. This applies to pedestrian walkways as well as vehicular transportation.
• It is important, especially at the elementary school level, to ensure students are able to attend schools located within close proximity to their own neighborhood, and, if possible, all students living in a neighborhood should attend the same schools.
• Large-scale boundary change processes should be concluded with enough lead time to allow families and school systems to plan and prepare.

The School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) provides funding assistance to school districts that are undertaking a major new construction or modernization project. Projects must meet eligibility requirements based on age and condition for modernization and a need for more space for new construction. School districts are responsible to secure local funding for construction projects. If eligible, the State may provide partial funding based on formulas, allowances, and costs related to certain aspects of a construction project called recognized project costs.

The Everett Public Schools is currently “overhoused” at all grade levels, and therefore is not eligible for SCAP funds for new schools or additions. EPS is currently eligible for SCAP funding for modernizations or “new-in-lieu” replacements, and the Funding Assistance Percentage for this is 52.56%. 

SCAP website

School impact and mitigation fees are collected from developers of new housing units within the school district, and used by the district to provide school facilities to house new students. Fees collected in this way have accounted for approximately 2.18% of total capital expenditures in the district over last 10 years ($7.1 million out of $328,012,193 million). While school impact and mitigation fees are both authorized by the state of Washington and are very similar, they do have some differences.

School impact fees: These are fees collected by Snohomish County and the City of Everett for housing projects in those jurisdictions, which are then turned over to the school district. These fees are determined by the formula contained in the district’s Capital Facilities Plan, which is updated every two years and approved by the school board and adopted by the county/city councils into their comprehensive plans. The methodology for calculating impact fees is established in the Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA) and ordinances in Snohomish County and City of Everett. These ordinances require that these funds be spent on capital projects providing additional capacity on a system-wide basis. The current amounts are set at $12,556 per single-family home and $4,257 per multi-family housing unit with two or more bedrooms, which reflect a 50% fee reduction required by the county/city ordinance. The current Capital Facilities Plan impact fees went into effect January 1, 2023 and are adjusted every two years thereafter.

School mitigation fees: These are fees collected by the district from developers of housing units in the City of Mill Creek. The amounts of these fees are negotiated between the housing developer and the school district and are formalized in a voluntary mitigation agreement between the parties, as required by State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA). Basically, the fees are determined by whether the specific schools attended by the students from those housing units are over capacity, how many students would live there, and the cost to provide portable classrooms to house those students. The fees currently range from a possible high of $12,556 per unit to a possible low of $0 per unit. The actual fees required will depend on whether the schools serving those developments are over capacity, and the costs of providing classroom space to serve those students. These funds must be spent on capital projects adding capacity at the schools serving students living in those housing developments. The mitigation fees are adjusted on an annual basis.