Pasco schools buy up another $4M in farmland near new high school. What we know
Pasco School District has purchased another 41 acres in a fast growing part of Franklin County for a future school.
The plot — about a quarter of an irrigated farming circle north of the Pasco city limits — was bought last month for more than $4 million.
The deal allows Pasco schools to plan for future growth and development. The plot could be used as the campus for a new elementary school or a middle school, but there’s no firm plan, said district spokesperson Anna Tensmeyer.
The land is diagonal to Pasco’s third comprehensive high school, currently named Harvest View High School. That school is under construction at 6091 Burns Road and will open to students in Fall 2025.
The area has been a hot spot for school district spending. The seller in the most recent deal, local farmer Fred Olberding, previously sold the district its land for the new high school in 2019.
Pasco is projected to grow by about 50,000 people over the next two decades, with development largely focused in the Road 100 area.
The school district will serve 19,000 K-12 students this school year in 17 elementary schools, four middle schools, two comprehensive high schools, two alternative learning high schools and an online school.
While county assessor’s records show a Dec. 14 purchase date, the deal still needed to be signed off on this week by the Pasco School Board at its regular business meeting.
The money will come from the school district’s impact fees, which are paid by developers when they build a new home in the district.
