Stalled plans for an expansion of Payette Lakes Middle School will be resubmitted to the City of McCall soon, the McCall-Donnelly School District Board of Trustees was told Monday.
Jason Clay, the district’s director of operations and maintenance, told trustees that the district identified a path forward for the expansion following meetings with McCall city officials.
“We made headway, finally, with the city, so we’re going to be moving forward,” Clay said.
M-D Superintendent Tim Thomas told Valley Lookout that the plans for the middle school expansion have been modified by extending sidewalks on the campus and adding a second pick-up/drop-off lane to improve traffic flows.
The changes, in tandem with additional pathways on the campus, are expected to enable the school district to build the expansion without dedicating land for a future extension of Deinhard Lane through the campus, Thomas said.
The city’s 2023 approval of the middle school expansion has since expired, which means the district must resubmit plans to the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission. Clay expects that to happen soon and said construction could begin as soon as this fall.
Deinhard extension impasse
The city’s 2023 approval required the district to provide 2.9 acres of land for an extension of Deinhard Lane through the southern portion of the 40-acre campus, which includes Barbara Morgan Elementary School.
A planning study adopted by the city in 2023 recommended the extension to improve traffic flows in southeastern McCall and to future developments east of the middle school, including Pine Creek Ranch.
The school district, however, worried the roadway could conflict with plans for the expansion and create a future safety hazard on the campus. A stalemate ensued.
The city’s approval also gave the district the option of completing a traffic study and funding recommended roadway improvements. But the $33 million bond issue approved in 2021 for the expansion did not include money for such work.
The original permit to build the middle school in 1994 required the district to provide half of the 70-foot easement sought by the city for the extension.
In 2004, however, the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission waived a requirement for the Fox Ridge Subdivision, which borders the school campus to the south, to provide the other 35 feet for the easement.
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City engineers urged the easement to be a condition of approval for the subdivision, but the school district spoke in opposition to it, citing concerns about traffic and safety—the same concerns that resurfaced almost 20 years later as the district sought approval for the middle school expansion.
New leadership
Thomas, who was hired as the school district’s new superintendent earlier this year, told Valley Lookout that completing the middle school expansion was among his top priorities.
At Monday’s meeting, he credited Clay and McCall City Manager Forest Atkinson, who started in November, for resolving the stalemate between the agencies.
“The creative thinking and problem-solving abilities of city and district staff found a way for the district to move forward,” he said. “I’m proud of how both agencies worked together to improve and enhance the educational environment at PLMS.”
Project details
The middle school expansion would add about 12,000 square feet of space, including two classrooms, new bathrooms, a larger science room, renovation of the school’s administrative office and enclosure of the main entryway.
The extra space would provide room for up to 125 more students at the middle school, which currently has a 400-student capacity. Combined, the site could serve as many as 975 students, including 450 students at the elementary school.
The 2021 bond issue also included about $15 million to renovate and expand Donnelly Elementary School. That work was completed in 2023.
The other $10 million from the bond was used to refinance a previous bond passed by district voters.
