The Hermiston School District Board of Education has awarded the contract for construction of the Rocky Heights Elementary School bond project to Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company.

The company will construct a new, larger version of the elementary school, paid for by the bond passed by voters in 2019. According to a news release, Kirby Nagelhout was the apparent low bid at $23,390,000.

Superintendent Tricia Mooney said in a news release that the bid came in about $3 million below initial projections.

“Community members can rest assured, with an independent review by the Bond Oversight Committee, HSD will appropriately use community tax dollars throughout the implementation of the November 2019 voter-approved bond projects,” she said.

The new Rocky Heights will be a single-story, 73,500-square-foot building built to serve approximately 600 students, with 24 classrooms and various communal spaces, such as a library and gymnasium. The project also includes demolition of the existing building, fencing, two new parking lots with drop-off areas, a main entry plaza, new play fields and playground equipment.

The bid timelines were staggered for the two elementary school projects, to encourage bidding by regional small- and medium-sized businesses, according to the release. Bid opening for the new Loma Vista Elementary School planned for East Theater Lane is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17.

Loma Vista will include the same square footage, number of classrooms and outdoor campus features as the new Rocky Heights. Construction of both elementary school projects will begin this spring and are expected to finish during the summer of 2022.

Hermiston School District has released its planned academic calendar for the 2021-22 school year.

The calendar would start school on Aug. 30, and the final day of school would be June 14, 2022, barring any days added on to make up for snow days.

Students would have their last day of classes before Winter Break on Dec. 17 and return to school on Jan. 3, 2022. Spring Break would run April 4-8, 2022. Graduation would take place on June 9, 2022.