District looks at options for $48.3M bond - Tech upgrades, renovations top list of needed expenses (by Mark Abramson,/Daily News)
The latest technology in the classrooms, fixing leaky roofs and possibly building a larger district administration office with room for teachers and staff to get additional training dominated the Burlingame School District Board's discussion on how to spend $48.3 million in bond money.
The special study session was held Saturday to get community input and discuss what the district's priorities should be for spending the Measure A bond money, which voters approved in November. The first $18 million in bonds is expected to be issued in March, and the entire bond project should take five or six years to complete, district officials said.
'Safety is first'
A rough draft of a schedule for spending the money, which could increase to $55.64 million in accumulated interest and in funds from the state, indicated the leaky roofs at the district's aging schools was a priority. The run-down restrooms at the campuses was the second priority. Modernizing classrooms at the aging schools, which in the case of McKinley and Washington Elementary schools predate World War I, was another priority.
"Safety is first," Superintendent Sonny Da Marto said before the meeting. "We always have leaky roofs, especially after rains like this (past week)."
Lincoln Elementary School's roof is the worst, and work on that could start this summer, Da Marto said. The entire roof at that school needs to be replaced. Burlingame Intermediate School's roof also has serious problems.
Parceling it out
The district created a master budget with an estimate of how much money will be spent at each campus as part of the process. BIS would get about $17.2 million; Franklin Elementary would receive $6.68 million; $6.44 million would be earmarked for McKinley Elementary; Roosevelt would get $3.67 million; Lincoln would receive $4.32 million; and Washington would get $3.83 million.
"That is our starting point, and any adjustments to that we need to talk about," Board President Michael Barber said. "It needs to be a community discussion and a board of trustees (discussion)."
The board also indicated that some of the bond money could be used to build a 9,000-square-foot district administration office at or adjacent to to the intermediat eschool or by acquiring an existing building. The district's office current building is 4,500 square feet.
An undisclosed party has offered to buy the district office, Board Member Marc Friedman said. The office at 1825 Trousdale Drive could be sold for as much as $2 million. The money from the sale could be used to offset the purchase of a new building, which could cost anywhere from $4.8 million to more than $6 million, officials said. A new district office would provide space for storage and another 2,000 square feet for training for teachers and staff, Da Marto said. The board will discuss the district office sale and options for a new building at its Feb. 5 meeting.
Although the bond project is still in the development stage and more discussions are needed, there is no talk about completely redoing classrooms to modernize those facilities, said Richard Terrones of Burlingame-based Dreiling Terrones Bartos Architecture Inc. The firm is managing the project.
Board Vice President Gregory Land said the district needs teachers' feedback for the modernization projects because they are the ones who use the classrooms.
Technology that lowers energy costs and can accommodate future advances should also be considered during the modernization work, Barber said.
Board Clerk Liz Gindraux suggested the district look at new technologies like smart boards, which are like high tech blackboards that can be plugged into laptop computers so what is on those boards can be printed out. Students can also use the smart boards for interactive learning.
- Written by Fiona
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