One source, who owns a tools and equipment shop in the region, said he was invited to the school alongside dozens of others. Though he said most of what was available had been removed by the time he arrived, he said he left with a band saw and a PlasmaCam CNC cutting table.
Both items, he said, weren’t in great condition but would still sell for thousands of dollars on the secondary market. Brand new, however, the items would sell for $10,000 to $15,000. Without a transfer of ownership, however, he said he can’t do much with them.
“It just landed in my lap,” he said. “But all that stuff should have been surplussed out, we all know that. They took all the stuff they wanted and transferred it to a new school, then just left everything else for the contractor to deal with. That to me isn’t right, but that’s how these things go a lot.”
After learning of the alleged incident, The Columbian requested that Evergreen provide a list of all items from the old school that were replaced in the new building, as well as items that were disposed of, their value and the sale price, if they were sold.
The district provided extensive lists of what equipment, room-by-room, was to be purchased new or brought from the old building.
