Hollister School District trustees approved the schematic design plan for almost $5.4 million in modernizations to Rancho San Justo Middle School including new roofs, an upgraded fire alarm, new restrooms and a new staff lounge last week.
At this time, the project is to be funded by the 2014 bond, explained John Teliha, the district’s director of facilities in an email to the Free Lance on Monday. Voters approved the $28.5 million general obligation facilities bond in November to fix leaky roofs, upgrade classrooms and improve campus security.
In reviewing the site, the district learned the current staff lounge was not Division of the State Architect approved and would need to be replaced. Replacing the staff room will likely be $400,000 to $500,000, said Stephen White, a principal architect with IBI Group, Inc., at the school board meeting last week.
“Looking at the budget, we can’t do everything in the buildings that we’d like to do,” White said.
Teliha mentioned he had talked with physical education teachers about relocating basketball courts—where there are currently cracks in the blacktop—for safety but added the district didn’t have the funds to fix volume of asphalt issues.
Physical education teacher Tom Schatz called the Free Lance on Friday to voice his concerns about the cracks in the blacktop.
“I believe that safety is part of code somewhere, too,” he said. “The safety of the students has got to be as important, if not more important, than buildings being up to code.”
As Schatz spoke, his feet were squished inside a crack in the asphalt at the school, he said.
“There isn’t a teacher that cares about a staff room more than what their students need,” the teacher said. “And we don’t want to get caught up in the district using us as a catalyst for spending tax dollars on a new building.”
As part of the work, the district will also get controlled access during the school day and improvements benefiting those affected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the report at the board meeting. The most costly item on the list was the nearly $1.6 million set aside for roofing, which was followed by the $726,000 set aside to replace the current fire alarm system.
“Actually, the fire alarm is in terrible condition,” White said. “I probably shouldn’t go into how terrible that is but we should replace the fire alarm.”
At the close of the report, the principal architect asked if there were any questions.
“No, actually, I think that’s pretty self-explanatory: We pay. You build,” said Board President Ben Flores, as the audience laughed.
The goal was to finalize the plan, bring it back to the board for approval and then get it to the Division of the State Architect so that work could start April 1 and be in place for the following school year, Teliha explained.
