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A school district in Southwest Washington is aiming to build a new high school and will enlist the help of an architect in the next two months. Woodland Public Schools will go out for a bond to fund design and construction of a new high school next year.

The Woodland Public Schools school board approved a recommendation last week to propose to fund a $47.5 million new high school and $2 million in upgrades for other schools through a proposed bond measure. After $11 million in expected state funding assistance, the bond amount is expected to be $39.9 million.

The district will present the bond request to voters in April 2012. By Jan. 5, 2012, the district will select an architect to start working on the design of the high school. The building is slated to be 130,000 square feet and have capacity to hold 1,100 to 1,200 students, though it will only hold 850 to 900 when it opens. It would replace a school that currently is too small, where many students take classes in portable classrooms. The new school will be built on a site that was purchased with bond funds in 2005. In spring 2008, voters rejected a similar bond to build a new high school.