Wenatchee School District superintendent previews Nov. 3 bond to rebuild high school, upgrade HVAC

Wenatchee School District Superintendent Corey Callahar on a district video previewed a community-driven bond measure that the school board approved June 23 and that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. He said the package focuses on rebuilding most of Wenatchee High School and replacing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems across district schools.

Callahar said the bond followed “a three-year journey” of study and community engagement. He described a 2023 third-party study and survey of facilities — the first since 2014 — that scored district buildings and informed planning. “You can only imagine why Wenatchee High School scored only 49% in that study,” he said, citing the assessment as a key reason for the proposed work.

The superintendent said a 50-person long-range facilities study committee made up of community members, parents, staff and local stakeholders reviewed the assessment in 2024 and recommended a path forward. Over five months the district ran five design committees, public meetings, facility tours and an online feedback survey to shape the proposed high-school design and districtwide upgrades.

Callahar framed the bond as responsive to what the community requested for learning spaces and for community use of district buildings. He said the two headline projects are (1) rebuilding most of Wenatchee High School and (2) replacing HVAC systems to improve heating, cooling and air quality for students and staff across the district. The district website (spoken in the video as wancheschools.org/bond) was presented as the place for more details and FAQs.

The school board unanimously approved the community-driven bond proposal on June 23, the superintendent said; the video did not provide a motion text, dollar amount, or vote tally. Callahar closed by saying the FAQ series will continue with an explanation of what a bond is and why the district needs one.

The district did not specify project cost, tax impact, bond term, or detailed vote counts in the video; those details are not included in this report because they were not provided in the transcript.