The Bainbridge Island School District continues to work toward establishing a viable plan for their construction projects that are currently underway

The Bainbridge Island School Board will receive a complete update on the scope of cost escalations threatening to alter plans to build a new Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary School at its meeting on July 27. The Blakely project was part of an $81.2 million bond passed by voters in 2016, which also promised a new 100 Building at BHS and repairs at other existing schools.

Now, district officials are saying $81.2 million can’t accomplish what voters were promised.

A saturation of construction projects in the Puget Sound region has driven the cost of building a new Blakely through the roof. At a recent meeting, Tamela Van Winkle, the district’s director of capital projects, provided an estimate of about $10.5 million in added costs simply due to market conditions.

While these numbers were only an estimate, what was certain was that costs have been rising steadily since February.

Van Winkle and the architects, contractors and engineers working on the Blakely team could not provide much more than rough estimates at the June 15 board meeting. She did say that she would provide concrete numbers at the upcoming meeting on July 27, including a confirmed and reconciled design development cost estimate, and a budget alignment strategy.

The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27 in the board room on the Commodore campus.