Cheney Public Schools has joined the list of Spokane-area school districts that plan to ask voters to approve capital facilities bonds next year.

The Cheney district plans to put a $44.8 million bond measure on the Feb. 10 ballot to fund a proposed renovation and expansion of Cheney High School, says Kassidy Probert, the district’s director of finance.

Including bond measures proposed by Spokane Public Schools, Central Valley School District, Mead School District, and Orchard Prairie School District, construction projects eyed for Spokane-area schools exceed $525 million in estimated value.

In Cheney, the bond proposal includes adding 12 new classrooms, a performing arts facility, physical education space, and a practice gym at the high school, Probert says. The project also would expand the cafeteria, which would double as a commons area to accommodate student gatherings.

The school’s existing theater, which he says is too small for the school’s needs, would be converted to science labs.

Spokane-based NAC|Architecture is doing preliminary design work for the project.

Cheney High School, located at 460 N. Sixth, in Cheney, was built in 1966, and was last renovated in 1994. The school currently serves 1,200 students, exceeding its original design capacity of 900 students, Probert says.

The proposed renovation will help the school accommodate projected enrollment through 2027, he says.

If voters approve the bond measure, construction likely would begin in spring 2016, Probert says.

The bond levy rate would add about 75 cents per $1,000 valuation to property owners’ tax bills, he says.

Spokane County Assessor’s records show Cheney School District’s 2014 bond rate is $1.86 per $1,000 valuation.

Voters approved a $79 million bond measure for constructing two middle schools and an elementary school in 2010. The bonds for the 2010 ballot will be paid off in 2028, and the bonds proposed for the 2015 measure would be paid off in 2035, Probert says.

In a separate measure to be included on the Feb. 10 ballot, the Cheney district also will ask voters to extend the current maintenance-and-operations levy for another three years.