Publication Date: Friday, March 11, 2005
Extreme makeover
Extreme makeover
(March 11, 2005) School upgrades finally visible after years of construction
by Alexandria Rocha
Walk through any of the local public schools and you'll be greeted by fresh coats of paint, lush grassy athletic fields, resurfaced floors and new lighting. At a handful of sites, you'll see students reading books and surfing the Web in clean, brand-new libraries.
For the most part, the dust has settled on the local school district's massive Building for Excellence construction program.
"The students have more pride in their school because it looks good. They were excited about all the things that happened," said Scott Bowers, principal of Fairmeadow Elementary School, on Wednesday.
There are, however, a few projects the district will tackle this spring, such as landscaping at Nixon Elementary School and a heating system upgrade at Hoover Elementary School. Renovations of restrooms at seven elementary schools -- Addison, Duveneck, El Carmelo, Escondido, Walter Hays, Ohlone and Palo Verde -- are also underway.
Gunn and Palo Alto high schools have a few larger-scale projects on deck.
At Paly, the work will begin the day after school lets out this year. Principal Scott Laurence said the visual and performing arts building will be gutted and rebuilt and the library will get new carpet, lighting, paint and a distribution desk.
The major area of renovation at Gunn will be expansion of the academic center and the campus' food services will get an attractive bistro, where officials hope kids will want to hang out and eat lunch.
"The kids suggested making it into a coffee shop. They spend a fortune at Starbucks, so the idea has merit," joked Gunn Principal Noreen Likins.
The extensive Building for Excellence program, also called "B4E," has been funded by a $143 million general obligation bond that more than 80 percent of Palo Alto voters approved in June 1995. The school district also received about $20 million in matching funds from the state's Proposition 1A, a school renovation fund passed in '98.
After the June '95 election, the district immediately issued $3.5 million that August and then another $122 million in 2000.
The remaining $17 million has been transferred into the Planned Maintenance Fund, in which several projects -- such as the landscaping, restroom renovations and Paly's upgrades -- will be funded.
The B4E program did not always run so smoothly. In fact, it was a bone of contention in the community for years.
"The program got off to a rocky start, but it ended up very successfully," said Mandy Lowell, a member of the district's Board of Education.
When the bond passed, parents, district staff and other community members spent a lot of time brainstorming school design plans under terms that money was not an object. In the end they were told their designs -- in which one was tearing down Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and building a two-story "q"-shaped campus -- were too ambitious and over budget.
By 1999, only $14.2 million worth of construction had been done. That included re-constructing Gunn's art building that was destroyed by a fire, opening Hoover Elementary School's new site on Charleston Road, buying portable classrooms, creating a new master plan and designing renovations for the first eight schools.
In the meantime, the district's new superintendent, Don Phillips, ordered a new B4E plan, which did not include building any new schools. Instead, it focused on creating parity throughout the district's sites. For example, all the elementary schools were to have equal play, storage and learning space.
In the fall of '99, under the new master plan, construction started booming.
Most district schools received upgrades to the fire alarm, communication, lighting, ventilation and heating systems. Schools also saw floor resurfacing, asbestos removal and lead paint abatement, as well as reseeded athletic fields.
Some campuses were also furnished with new fire hydrants, plumbing fixtures and new telephone, video and master clock systems.
Besides those upgrades that enhanced safety and small renovations that brightened the schools' appearances -- such as new cabinetry, carpet and fresh coats of paint -- there were also a wide variety of projects done on a larger scale.
For example, six district schools received new libraries from the B4E fund, including Barron Park, Juana Briones, El Carmelo, Fairmeadow and Palo Verde elementary schools and Gunn High School. Paly also received a new science building.
With the B4E account dwindling, school officials have started a dialogue about the district's next general obligation bond election. So far, no dates have been selected.
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