T.W. Clark Construction LLC, of Spokane Valley, has started work on a $1.3 million project to expand a Pullman elementary school.

The contractor is adding six classrooms totaling 6,500 square feet of floor space to Franklin Elementary School, which currently is a 45,400-square-foot building at 850 S.E. Klemgard.

Just over 300 students attend Franklin, which is one of three Pullman School District elementary schools, says Shannon Focht, the district's communications coordinator. She says the classroom addition is expected to be finished in time for the beginning of the school year next fall.

Design West Architects PA, of Pullman, designed the expansion.

In February, voters approved the Pullman district's plan to sell $53.5 million in bonds to pay for the elementary school addition and a separate project to renovate and reconstruct Pullman High School, which is located at 510 N.W. Greyhound Way.

NAC|Architecture, of Spokane, is designing the high school project, with the goal to have design documents ready by next June for the process of seeking contractors to submit construction bids. The district is hoping to break ground on the project in the summer of 2014, Focht says.

The high school will remain open for students during construction, which will occur in phases over about three years while certain portions of the structure are torn down and rebuilt, Focht says.