Great Northern School District
The Great Northern School District No. 312 is a school district in Spokane County, Washington, United States. It covers a rural unincorporated area between Airway Heights and Spokane and has a single school, named Great Northern Elementary, that serves grades kindergarten to six.
| Great Northern School District | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 3115 North Spotted Road Spokane County, Washington, U.S. | |
| Coordinates | 47°41′12″N 117°31′07″W |
| District information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | A great place to learn! |
| Grades | K–6 |
| Established | 1894 |
| Superintendent | Glenn Frizzell |
| Schools | 1 |
| NCES District ID | 5303270[1] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 41 (as of 2018–19) |
| Other information | |
| Website | gnsd.k12.wa.us |
The district was named for the Great Northern Railway, which donated the land on which the district's single school sits.[2] The first school at the site was built in 1894 and replaced by a larger three-room building, which opened in 1914.[2][3]
History
The first one-room schoolhouse in the Highland area was built in 1894 on land donated by the Great Northern Railway. The district was named for the railroad, the area's largest taxpayer.[3][4] The Great Northern School District graduated its first high school class in 1913, shortly after other rural districts were consolidated into it.[5] The original building was replaced by a new brick building with three classrooms to accommodate more students.[3][4]
The Great Northern School District later dropped its high school classes in favor of sending students to larger facilities in other districts. It was ordered to contribute $31,818 towards the construction of a new building at North Central High School in Spokane in 1978, requiring a special vote on lifting levy limits.[6] The levy measure was passed by 90 percent of voters, allowing for school operations to remain funded and contributing their expected share of construction costs.[7] The district also survived several statewide attempts at consolidating rural school districts proposed by the Washington State Legislature in the 1990s.[4]
Governance
The district is governed by a five-member board of directors elected to four-year terms in staggered years. It has 14 employees overseen by part-time superintendent Glenn Frizzell, who was hired in 1994.[2][8] Its budget in 2017–18 was $803,357.[8]
Demographics
The Great Northern School District covers an area of 18.1 square miles (47 km2) around the unincorporated area of Highland, located northeast of Airway Heights and northwest of Spokane.[2][9] The school district is bordered to the south by the Cheney School District and to the east by Spokane Public Schools, the second-largest school district in Washington.[10][11] The district's lone school has three classrooms that serve grades kindergarten to six. Older students are typically sent to nearby middle schools in Airway Heights, Cheney, and Spokane.[2][8]
As of the 2018–19 school year, the district has an enrollment of 41 students, including those from outside of the district boundaries.[1][2] The 2010 United States Census counted a population of 695 residents within the school district boundaries, of which 22.6 percent were under the age of 18.[9] The racial makeup of residents in 2010 was 94% White, 0.1% Black, 0.9% American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.0% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 0.4% other races, and 3.3% reporting two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.3% of the reported population.[9] Data from the American Community Survey estimates that 47.1% of parents in the school district boundaries had a bachelor's degree or higher, while 34.1% had some college or an associate's degree.[12]
References
- "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Great Northern School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Allen, Jim (January 30, 2019). "Tiny, beloved Spokane County school district has one 105-year-old school, 36 students and a superintendent pushing 90". The Spokesman-Review. p. A1. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Honegger, Mary Jane (2002). "Washington State Historic Schools Status 2002" (PDF). Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. p. 24. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Johnson, Carla K. (December 18, 1994). "Young at heart". The Spokesman-Review. pp. A1, A5. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "School Near Fort Wright Is Progressive". The Spokesman-Review. September 21, 1913. p. 10. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "District Faces Boost in Cost". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 14, 1978. p. 13. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "School Elections: Voting Results Vary". Spokane Daily Chronicle. May 17, 1978. p. 5. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Assessment Audit Report: Great Northern School District No. 312". Washington State Auditor. February 21, 2019. p. 5. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Census 2010: Great Northern School District". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via The Spokesman-Review.
- Spokane County School Districts (Map). Spokane County Building and Planning. February 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Kincanon, Matthew (October 11, 2019). "Water, experience among issues examined by Great Northern School District board candidates". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "ACS-ED District Demographic Dashboard: Great Northern School District, WA". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 14, 2020.