LONG BEACH PENINSULA — While the rest of the 2019-20 in-person school year has been canceled, Ocean Beach School District has been given the greenlight to move forward with projects from the safety levy that voters approved last spring.

OBSD Superintendent Amy Huntley said that the district is in the process of receiving bids for its projects, after receiving confirmation from Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal that school construction projects are considered essential business under Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. Most commercial and residential construction projects are deemed non essential under Inslee’s order.

Huntley noted that the closure of school buildings for the rest of the school year will help OBSD get these projects completed ahead of schedule. With in-person learning canceled for the final three months of the school year, she said contractors can begin starting on OBSD’s projects as soon as they’ve been awarded the project.

“I really want to have our kids back more, but this could be helpful for these projects,” Huntley said.

Most of OBSD’s projects currently out for bid stem from the district’s 2019 safety levy, which passed with 59.3% of the vote last April. The levy replaced the district’s expiring levy, and lasts for five years with a total cost of $2.5 million at $0.05 per $1,000 of assessed value in the first year, and $0.29 and $0.30 for two years each in the following four years.

OBSD identified several projects it planned to complete with the funds from the levy, which included installing single-point entries at each school, along with new fencing, an alarm system and cameras. The fencing was completed last fall by Bear Power Fencing.

A portable was also erected in late 2019 behind the Ocean Park Elementary building after the safety levy included funds to purchase the portable. It is mostly used for students and intervention specialists, who work directly with students to help with needs such as special education or social adjustment.

In a November update, Huntley acknowledged that the portable isn’t very attractive, and that it would be re-sided and beautified prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year. She said the district will also work to fix the parking situation at OPE.

The district also partnered with the Long Beach Police Department to hire a resource officer who will primarily work in the schools. Huntley told the Observer that officer Tim Mortenson had been selected as the resource officer and began working with OBSD on March 30.