January 26, 2007

Evergreen District begins developing eight-year master plan to implement Measure I

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

The Evergreen School District’s board of trustees held a meeting last week with several administrative officials and architect John Diffenderfer to discuss and develop the master plan for implementing Measure I.

The $150 million facilities bond, which passed by 9,710 votes, or 72.8 percent of the total vote, is designed to upgrade fire safety and security, repair aging roofs, improve instructional technology, improve and expand libraries, construct classrooms and schools and replace portables, renovate deteriorating restrooms and construct, repair and renovate local school facilities at the district’s 15 elementary and three middle schools and its corporation yard and support facilities.

The measure was written to include a citizen’s oversight committee as well as independent annual audits. Applications for the oversight committee were due to the district by 4 p.m. on Jan. 26. The seven-member committee will be chosen from those applications following a selection committee interview. They will be named at the board of trustees meeting on Feb. 15.

Members of the committee will consist of a member from the business/financial community, from a senior citizen’s organization, a taxpayer organization, a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in district schools and a parent or guardian that is active within his child’s school community such as PTA or school site council. The remaining two members will be chosen at large.

Last summer the district appointed Jim Crawford, the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, as district liaison to the planning project team of Dasse Design structural engineers, Capital Engineering Consultants mechanical engineers, Aurum Consulting Engineers as electrical engineers, Landarc, Inc. as landscape architects and Blach Construction Company to review and recommend estimated costs.

Officials from these companies, which have worked on district projects in the past, worked with Crawford to investigate each site to determine and prioritize needs. The result is the master plan, which delineates revenue, expenditure plans by campus type and specific findings.

Revenue of approximately $291 million includes the $150 million Measure I bonds as well as state funding and several other sources. The master plan is being developed n order to optimize the use of state matching funds by meeting specific state criteria when state matching funds are available.

The district categorized the schools by type; for example Evergreen Elementary—the oldest campus in operation—is a finger plan school, characterized by parallel wings of classrooms. Other types include pod schools, modular schools, “new” schools, intermediate or middle schools and new campuses. Also included in the plan’s scope are miscellaneous projects and unforeseen conditions.

All of the district’s 18 schools will receive new or upgraded fire alarm systems. Some schools’ systems do not comply with SB 575 Green Oaks Family Act and require heat and smoke detectors and emergency strobes in portions or throughout the campus. Other schools do comply with the act, but need to be replaced prior to the manufacturer’s tech support expiration. Most of the schools also require improvements to the site and to landscaping.

In addition, the district is projecting two new elementary schools to be built in the Campus Industrial and Arcadia areas to meet extensive enrollment from housing constructed at those sites based on the Evergreen East Hills Visioning Project. The cost of building new school number 19, at the Campus Industrial site, is estimated at just over $80.3 million and the cost for new school number 20 is projected at $29 million.

Construction costs have been figured in 2006 dollars. These have been multiplied by a factor of 1.2 for additional non-construction costs that vary due to the size of the project as well as design fees, survey costs and inspection and plan review fees. The costs also are adjusted using a 7 percent inflation factor per year for the total project cost. Construction costs per school range from as low as $271,041 at John J. Montgomery School, with dollars earmarked toward site and landscape area improvements, to $10.4 million in estimated costs for LeyVa Middle School. LeyVa, which has seen numerous renovations since the school was built in 1970, will need to replace portable classroom buildings with a two-story building and securable building perimeter. Renovating and expanding the play area, staff and visitor parking and drop off areas will increase safety and provide a better vehicle and pedestrian flow on and off campus. It also needs additional restrooms and storage areas as well as replacing covered lunch structures.

In addition, the school needs to upgrade its exterior doors and windows for energy efficiency. Other basic improvements include exterior painting and the addition of exterior signs, replacing or repairing floors and ceiling surfaces, renovating interior wall finishes, upgrading classroom cabinetry and equipment, adding furniture and office equipment and upgrading science and computer labs, among other improvements.

Evergreen Elementary School is also near the top of the list in terms of construction costs at just under $9.9 million. The school, which is anticipating a steady increase in enrollment, will need a new multiuse building and classroom buildings that will reduce needs for temporary portable classrooms that currently take up play field space.

The current multiuse facility will be renovated into a new library with the existing library changed into additional classrooms. Mechanical and plumbing features will be required for new buildings. For energy efficiency, light fixtures and controls must be replaced to comply with California Energy Code. Each classroom needs new wall clocks and the main electrical switchboard must be replaced to meet new building loads.