In 2007 Superintendent Ric Palmer and the school board did a study of the current school facilities, and made the decision to ask the community if they would support building a new facility.

Our elementary building was built in 1953 and has served us well, but the roof needs repairing, the mortar between the bricks has decayed and allows wind to pass through the walls, and the electrical and heating systems are creating problems that make it difficult to use some of the classrooms. The high school building which was built in 1961, although it has been well maintained, has many of the same issues as the elementary. Another factor was that we are currently using three portables for student classes, which is not efficient. The cost for heating one, solid building, a K-12, seems to be a better idea, instead of taking care of multiple, separate buildings.

One other item to consider is the risk of having students and staff cross the highway that runs between the elementary and the high school to access academic areas. This highway, which was once used only by horse and buggy, has seen a tremendous increase in traffic. It is used not only by the people of this community, but by Highway 97 traffic whenever Satus Pass is closed, and workers in surrounding industry such as the Regional Landfill at Roosevelt, and White Creek Wind, Big Horn Wind, Harvest Wind, and Juniper Canyon Wind Farms.

All of these reasons made the decision to build a new building the best idea. This new building will provide all the things that our student population, teachers, and staff, will ever have a need for, and will save the school a significant amount of money through the coming years.