Dear Citizens:
So much has happened since Piedmont voters approved Measure E back in March 2006. We are writing to provide you with a Progress Report and to invite you to attend an important event:
Community Meeting on Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 9:00 a.m.- noon
where citizens can learn about the proposed school projects and overall budget, and have an opportunity to provide input on a proposal being considered by the Board to rebuild Havens Elementary School.
PROGRESS
Since Measure E’s passage, the District’s goal was to implement the program using a comprehensive, thoughtful, and transparent process with many opportunities for community involvement and feedback along the way.Although this process takes time, we believe it was necessary to build community understanding and support for a quality multi-year construction program.Here is what we have accomplished to-date:
- Took immediate action to reduce risks associated with the most serious seismic issues by vacating classrooms at Havens, removing the tile roof at the PHS Quad building, and minimizing use of the Student Center.
- Assembled a team of qualified professionals, including engineers, architects, peer reviewers, and program and project managers to work with the District’s management team.
- Involved many dedicated volunteers from the community, including the Steering Committee, Technical Advisory Committee, and Citizens Oversight Committee.
- Issued the first series of bonds totaling $15 million to fund the necessary planning, engineering and architectural work.
- Completed all of the engineering studies necessary to identify and measure the seismic safety risks as well as the required accessibility, fire and life safety issues in all of our school buildings.
- Categorized the buildings into three groups (1=red, 2=yellow and 3=green) and prioritized them from buildings with the greatest deficiencies to those with the least.
- Developed conceptual designs and rough cost estimates for all of the target projects.
- Researched the available state funding and initiated the process required to obtain these funds.
- Established a web site, issued newsletters, and organized community meetings to inform and involve the public.
NEXT PHASE
Now we are ready to tackle the next phase of the program, where a detailed design schematic, budget, construction and phasing plan must be developed for each project. The Board plans to approach program implementation as follows:
Address the Group 1 Buildings (PHS, Havens, and Maintenance Facility) & seek State funding
Consultants have identified buildings with the greatest structural and accessibility deficiencies at these sites.To address these buildings, the District will:
- Develop design schematics, refined budget, and phasing plan to repair PHS Quad Building and Student Center.
- Develop design schematics to rebuild the maintenance facility, critical to ongoing maintenance of the district’s facilities and recovery efforts in the event of a major earthquake.
- Havens Elementary School
The school has two vacated glass classroom wings with serious structural deficiencies, 1930’s construction likely to suffer significant damage in a major quake, and significant accessibility deficiencies throughout.Design developer Mark Becker, Former Board Member Jim Nybakken, and President of Webcor Builders, Andy Ball, have approached the District with a proposal to rebuild the school at a guaranteed maximum price, anticipated to be much lower than previous estimates to rebuild the school.
The Board has asked staff to assess the viability of pursuing this proposal which would require that the District enter into a special ‘lease/lease back’ agreement with any interested developer for a guaranteed maximum price.
The School Board is seriously considering this proposal, which in addition to addressing the seismic and accessibility issues on the campus, provides many other benefits to the community.
Repair Group 2 Buildings (on the Beach and Wildwood campuses) & seek State funding
Consultants predict that the 1930’s construction on these campuses is likely to suffer significant damage in a major earthquake.The District will:
- Develop design schematics, refined budget, and phasing plan to repair the 1930’s construction at Beach School.
- Develop design schematics, refined budget, and phasing plan to repair the 1930’s construction at Wildwood School.
Reduce fire & life safety, and falling hazard risks at all schools
- Implement non-structural seismic work at all of the school buildings, reducing or removing falling hazard risks from classrooms, hallways, offices, and other public spaces.
- Upgrade fire alarm systems on all campuses, including integration of PMS and PHS system.
COMMUNITY MEETING
We hope you will be able to join us at the Community Meeting on Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 9:00 am noon at the Ellen Driscoll Auditorium. The meeting will be facilitated by consultant, Gina Bartlett, from the Center for Collaborative Policy.The goals for this meeting include:
- Conduct a ‘Walk Through’ of the Havens campus
- Provide an overview of progress made to-date on the Measure E bond program, including a summary of the overall program budget based on current rough cost estimates of target projects.
- Present the Becker Design for the replacement of Havens.
- Answer questions, issues and concerns you may have about the program.
- Solicit community input on the Havens rebuild proposal and overall program plan.
Please RSVP to Beverly Feusier, Superintendent Hubbard’s Administrative Assistant at 510-594-2614 or bfeusier@piedmont.k12.ca.us. If you cannot attend, feel free to provide your input at input@pusdbond.org. Many thanks for your ongoing support of the Piedmont public school system.
Sincerely,
Constance Hubbard
Superintendent of Schools
June Monach
President, Board of Education
P.S.EXCITING NEWS! We just posted a NEW District Newsletter to the PUSD website.The communication is intended to inform the community about our efforts to maintain and improve upon quality educational opportunities in our schools.Go to: www.piedmont.k12.ca.us and let us know what you think.In addition, if you would like to receive updates on the bond program, go to: www.pusdbond.org and sign up for E-News.
This update was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 8:09 pm.