Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Well Aligned Work

As you might be aware, the district is working on several facility projects and is contemplating the need to build an addition to the High School to support career technical education (CTE), STEM, and also include additional gym space.

The District has been actively engaged in work on several facility improvements that have been prioritized to move forward such as life safety systems (fire alarm systems), window replacement, control expansion joint repairs,  lighting on the football field, carpet replacement, and a few other projects. We will be starting the process to work on the HVAC system once the windows are complete. The planning is well underway, and the work on these projects is will be starting quite soon.

The facility committee has been meeting and has made some excellent progress. I am pleased with their willingness to openly share their thinking, discuss, and work toward developing a consensus on what is needed and must be prioritized. 

We have worked with DLR an architectural firm to complete an exhaustive study of our facility, help identify priority projects, and to provide an estimated cost of what it will take to complete the work that is needed.

Of course, the more difficult work comes now, which is finding the right balance between what we want to be able to have to support our students and programs, and what is reasonable to financially obtain. Last night, the Board held an excellent work session to discuss the possibility of working with the Carl A. Nelson and Company as a construction management agency.  Their consultants facilitated an excellent discussion on how they can work alongside architects throughout the design process to meet the District goals, and also reduce costs along the way.  They can also serve as the construction manager throughout the project.

The Board is engaging in really important conversations, and this work is well aligned to our goals to increase STEM literacy for all students and to expand curriculum and access to CTE Programs.  This is really good work.



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