By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
Following the passage of Measure E by voters last November, the Rim of the World Unified School District board of trustees approved a contract with tBP Architecture for projects that will be funded by the funds raised through the bond.
Gary Moon and Chuck Forte of tBP were at the school board workshop on Sept. 11 to present their report on their tours of all six campuses and the work that needs to be done.
“Our purpose,” said Moon, “is to arrive at a game plan so we can begin to do work to accomplish as many bond projects as possible. We will talk about priorities.
“Everyone is excited to see something happen but it takes a while to make it happen. You won’t see things right out of the gate.”
Moon noted that he, Forte and Jim Zimmer, Rim’s director of maintenance and facilities, went to every school – “boots on the ground.” They reviewed the entire master plan and assessments to see what everyone else thought was important; they align, he said.
Their first four observations were repetitive for all campuses:
- Electrical service needs augmentation.
- Generator is undersized.
- Roofing needs replacement.
- There is a lack of HVAC.
The tBP team also identified some “quick start” projects that would not involve the Division of the State Architect. They include security fencing and gates, bottle fillers at drinking fountains, shade structures, new phone systems and surveillance cameras.
That led to questions and concern from the trustees.
The board of trustees listened as consultants from tBP went over priorities for funds raised by Measure E.
“We need to start with the highest priorities and communicate what’s happening,” said Trustee Scott Craft. To that President Jordana Ridland added she thinks they should “not consider quick starts now but focus on the highest priorities.”
Trustee Bill Mellinger noted that “it sems every campus needs some sort of shade structure. If it will take years to get HVAC (as the tBP team had said), then maybe the students need some shade.”
But Trustee Cindy Gardner said that the PTA had purchased a shade structure at Lake Arrowhead Elementary School a few years ago. When they wanted to buy a second one, the price had jumped from $44,000 to $100,000. “We are looking at significant money to do shade structures,” she said.
“We have students who are suffering from the heat,” Mellinger noted. “We may have to consider shade structures.”
To that Craft said, “Having shade structures would be great but what if we do (install them) and then come up short for HVAC or generators? We have priorities above them.”
“People want the teaching and learning environment to be the best it can be,” Gardner said. “I’m not discounting shade structures; it’s just shocking how expensive they are – and that was two years ago. With supply costs and other issues, how much will it jump every year?”
Dr. Paul Sevillano, the district’s superintendent, suggested the tBP team do a cost analysis. “Let’s allow the consultants to go back and cost it out. We passed the bond with these priorities.”
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