School board approves Liberty seismic architecture and engineering contract

Tillamook school district’s board of directors approved a $308,600 contract with ZCS Engineering and Architecture, Inc. for architecture and engineering services for a seismic upgrade project at Liberty Elementary School on September 9.

Board members also addressed community feedback about last month’s removal of a book from the high school’s curriculum, which was also addressed by numerous public commenters.

The removal of “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents” from the 10th grade honors English curriculum at Tillamook High School passed by a 3-1 vote at August’s school board meeting. Community members submitted numerous letters to the editor to local publications protesting the decision, including one signed by more than 700 authors that was published on the Tillamook County Pioneer.

Complaints continued at the school meeting with four of five commenters in a 15-minute comment addressing the decision. Commenters complained about the process used to review and remove the book, saying that it was not fair or transparent to members of the community. Several of the commenters also argued that suppressing the book would suppress awareness of sexual assault among students.

Board member Justin Aufdermauer addressed the feedback and argued that board members could have decided how to vote for different reasons, but that sexism, racism and bigotry had not played a role in his vote.

Board Member Kris Lachenmeier, who voted against removing the book from the curriculum, said that she supported the board’s decision and that after a tough month following the decision she was looking forward to moving on from the situation.

The seismic rehabilitation project at Liberty Elementary School has a total budget of $2.45 million and work is expected to take place between June and August 2025.