MERIDIAN SCHOOL BOARD's August 26 Special Meeting

The Meridian School Board’s August 26, 2026 special meeting/work session focused on a proposed early learning and care center at the high school. Presenters reported $12,257,000 in grant-funded award letters for the project, including a pending $1 million allocation from the Whatcom County Children’s Fund; they said the other listed funding sources had already received board approval. The funding was described as grants and donations rather than local taxpayer funding. The board adopted the consent agenda, but the transcript does not show a vote on the pending $1 million or a final decision to proceed with the project.

Discussion covered plans to seek an early-learning provider through an RFP, with the provider helping determine operations, costs, and service arrangements. The county offered to help develop the RFP, including terms for subsidized-family access and other eligibility priorities. Presenters described a projected schedule of finalizing grant-related contracts in February–March 2027, completing design in summer or fall 2027, soliciting construction bids in winter 2027, and starting construction in spring 2028. Dykeman Architecture led earlier design sessions; no provider selection or construction contract award occurred in the transcript.