Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home School Board Monday approved a resolution allowing the School District to spend money from its Long-Term Maintenance Fund and ending fund balance from its General Fund to cover higher costs for remodeling Sweet Home Junior High.
Sweet Home School District voters approved a $4 million bond levy in May 2017 to remodel the junior high and make more minor improvements at other buildings, including construction of secure entrances. The state matched the bond levy with a $4 million grant.
At the time, the district estimated the cost of remodeling the junior high at about $7 million.
Since then, the cost of construction has increased and the scope of the project has grown, based on public input, said Supt. Tom Yahraes.
Subcontractor labor is in short supply right now, said Ryan McAlister, project executive with Gerding Construction, the general contractor on the project. The state has a lot of school work available with all of the bonds that have been passed.
As the project has developed, “the numbers were coming in high, exceeding $12 million,” Yahraes told the board, so Gerding and Maintenance Supervisor Josh Darwood began sharpening their pencils.
They started listing everything that would be in an ideal project and everything the district could not live without, the work promised as part of the bond levy request and set priorities for different parts of the project, while remembering that this project will serve the district for many years.
The original plan included the demolition of outbuildings, the construction of a new office area and secure entrance, a new gym, building infrastructure upgrades and a sloping roof to drain water among numerous other details.
Based on their work, the project cost is estimated at about $10 million now.
Business Manager Kevin Strong said that gLAs Architects is completing construction documents, and the district will have a better idea of the costs once that’s done and subcontractors start bidding.
To cut costs, Darwood and his maintenance crew will handle significant portions of the project.
McAlister pointed to the work Gerding and the Sweet Home School District did concurrently at Hawthorne Elementary School, where district personnel remodeled the entrance and office area while Gerding completed seismic upgrades throughout the building.
With that partnership, they asked themselves what district staff could take on, McAlister said.
The district will handle demolition, asbestos abatement, interior renovations, interior footings and slabs, electrical upgrades and new low-voltage wiring, while Gerding will handle construction of the gym, the office, the cafeteria, entrance and parking lot.
The project is scheduled to begin this fall and be complete by fall 2019, Darwood said. Additional remodeling will continue in summer 2020.
Potential funding sources, if needed, include up to $1.5 million from the Long-Term Maintenance Fund along with $300,000 to $400,000 in the General Fund’s ending fund balance, money that is not appropriated and is carried over into the next fiscal year.
The resolution requires the district to maintain an ending fund balance in the General Fund of 5 percent.
That is about $1.1 to $1.2 million, Strong said.
The resolution also requires the district to maintain a balance of $500,000 in the Long-Term Maintenance Fund.
The fund is currently at about $2.8 million, Strong said.
The district saves money in the Long-Term Maintenance Fund annual for use in completing various maintenance and building projects.
Present at the meeting and voting to approve the resolution were Jenny Daniels, Jim Gourley, Jason Van Eck, Chanz Keeney, Mike Reynolds, Chairman Jason Redick, Carol Babcock and Debra Brown. Angela Clegg was absent.
In other business, the board:
n Adopted board goals based on the district’s Strategic Plan:
– Outstanding Achievement: Offer an academically challenging experience, celebrating individual excellence.
The board will allocate resources for staff professional development that aligns with the goals of the strategic plan, based on the superintendent’s recommendations, such as increasing programming, electives and alternative education options.
– Thriving Citizen: Champion success, unlocking each student’s full potential.
The board will increase visibility in the community by attending district and student events during the 2018-19 school year.
– Thriving Community: Promote seamless partnerships where students, staff and community members feel connected.
The board will identify at least three new ways of engaging the community and implement those in the 2018-19 school year.
– Safe, Welcoming Facilities and Services: Provide a learning atmosphere that prepares students for an ever-changing world.
The board will receive regular updates on bond activities and provide appropriate oversight of bond expenditures aligned with the bond implementation plan.
n Approved a resolution to allow the use of the general contractor-construction management model to complete $1.5 million grant-funded seismic upgrade projects at Foster and Holley elementary schools in summer 2019. The district will request proposals from contractor-management firms, like Gerding Construction, which managed the Hawthorne and high school auditorium seismic upgrades, and which is managing the junior high remodel.
n Hired: Killian Maxwell, temporary math teacher at Sweet Home High School; Johnnie San Nicolas, aquatic shift supervisor, SHHS; Nathan Whitfield, special education, SHHS; Nathaniel McLachlain, media arts, Sweet Home Junior High; and Theo White, special education, SHHS.
n Declared surplus two weighted auditorium stage curtains from the SHHS auditorium.
n Adopted annual policy updates recommended by the Oregon School Boards Association, covering special education, sexual harassment, medications and reporting child abuse.