Major renovations are needed at Redmond High School. A committee tasked with considering the future of the building has recommended the district consolidate the student bodies at Ridgeview.

Redmond High School is getting a second chance.

The Redmond School District has decided to keep the school open, so Ridgeview and Redmond high schools will remain separate. A previous plan called for the schools to possibly consolidate, with Redmond High shuttering due to a faulty HVAC system.

The district plans to put a bond measure on the November ballot that would not raise property taxes, but would pay for repairs to Redmond High’s failing HVAC system and improvements at other schools.

During separate listening sessions with staff and the community, the district had two proposals for what to do during the renovation: Hold Redmond High School classes in temporary classrooms for a year, which would cost $2.5 million, or permanently merge the schools.

As the district discovered in 2023, the pipes and fittings of Redmond High’s HVAC system are failing and will need a year to be fully repaired, during which students and staff cannot be in the building.

Community had concerns

At the community listening sessions held in April to discuss the two proposals for the repairs, the merger wasn’t popular.

Mary Annett, 77, who lives in the Prairie Crossing housing development near Ridgeview High School, said she was worried about the increased traffic on South Canal Boulevard and Southwest Badger Avenue.

“There’s more apartments off South Canal and there’s more apartments at Badger,” she said. “You can’t turn left at Badger either.”

Parents were also concerned about how sports teams would work, as well as increased competition leading to student athletes not getting a chance to play.

Rochelle Anderson said her eighth grader was worried about what the proposed merger would mean for high school athletes in Redmond.

“She’ll probably always be a JV player, but she plays with her whole heart,” she said during the listening session. “If you push for this, you’re killing her spirit.”

Barry Branaugh, a retired social studies teacher at Redmond High, said both schools are underutilized and suggested moving district offices into the high schools and turning the district office into an alternative school.

“I have a vested interest in this bond,” he said. “This is the 58th year in a row somebody in my family has worked for or gone to school in this district.”

Community members were concerned about transportation and how to maintain school culture if the schools merged. There was also skepticism over a community poll the initially showed support for the merger, and the lack of growth in student enrollment in Redmond School District.

The Redmond Spokesman was first to report about the plan to merge schools in December 2023, as discussed in a school board meeting.

The district formed a bond committee to tour the facilities and make a recommendation about what the district should do. The committee in April recommended merging its high schools.

At community listening sessions, the feedback was mostly negative.