Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 15, 1997

SCHOOLS: Revised building plan unveiled

A draft of plans for elementary school construction unveiled Monday night calls for the renovation of one of the district's unused schools, with the completion of all construction by March 2001.

The $49.7 million plans, part of the $143 million school bond construction project, were presented by superintendent Don Phillips and members of Vanir Construction Management at a study session at school district headquarters. Under the plan all elementary schools would get, among other things, a permanent library, Internet access, seismic upgrades, improved fire safety and repaired roofs.

The plans are not final and must go before the school board for approval.

Phillips said projected enrollment and possible additional class size reduction must also be considered before a decision is made.

Doug Evans, bond construction consultant with Vanir, said the construction would be done in four waves over three years, with construction beginning in December 1998.

Work at Duveneck, Escondido, Ohlone and the Old Ohlone sites would begin first; then Hoover, Addison, Nixon and Fairmeadow in June 1999. Work at Briones and repairs to the Garland site would begin in January 2000, and renovation at Walter Hays, Palo Verde and El Carmelo would begin in June 2000.

For most schools, work would be done on half of the campus at a time, with the displaced classes meeting in a set of seven portables. Briones, Hoover and El Carmelo schools, however, would move into school sites not currently being used by PAUSD--Old Ohlone and Garland.

"We will try to help schools through the construction," said Fairmeadow Principal June Schiller, who was named director for building development last week. "I think it's doable, and most schools will be in and out and finished with construction within a year."

Having gone through one attempt at bond construction already, some were not as confident of the time line that Vanir proposed.

"This schedule seems too aggressive," said John Barton, an architect, a member of the public review committee for the project and a school board candidate. "The community is likely to want to see the schedule stretched out so you don't have to come back and (revise the plans again)."

The plans leave some questions up to the school board. The one option Phillips said he favors includes partial reconstruction of the Briones and El Carmelo campuses. The board will also decide whether to give one, two or no extra portables to each campus.

But members of the school board and the public had questions on the data that Vanir presented.

"You need to be prepared to demonstrate why this number is this amount," said board member Don Way. ". . . I'm a little disconcerted that we got these numbers tonight without the principals signing off on them."

Board member Amado Padilla brought up the question of a grade K-8 school adjacent to the middle schools. For a plan such as this, Vanir would have to go back to the drawing boards.



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