School district also lacks staffing to oversee projects
The fate of several of the Morgan Hill School District’s renovation projects remains up in the air.
Staff is recommending the district not accept $358,950 in state funding for the remodeling of San Martin/Gwinn Elementary due to a probable funding shortfall and insufficient staffing in the district.
“We have to be realistic about the dollars available to us,” Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini told trustees at the Jan. 26 board meeting. “The reality check for us is that costs do not match funding. That’s certainly a conclusion we’ve faced on many projects. And then, who’s going to manage this? If the job is going to be done well, we need someone to manage it.”
Tognazzini said that in every construction and modernization project the district has undertaken in the past, the estimate does not match the funding. She said the district’s share “often doubles or triples in cost once the project is begun.”
Barrett Elementary, for example, was estimated at approximately $10 million before construction; the final cost was approximately $17 million.
Plans to renovated San Martin/Gwinn were approved by the state, and the State Allocation Board agreed to provide funding in 2000. In order to receive the funding, the district must award 60 percent of the construction contracts by June 30.
The district has to match state funding in an 80/20 match; the district’s $89,738 has been set aside in the building fund.
The approved renovations included painting, improvements to the parking lot to meet ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements and developing a park between the two schools (San Martin and Gwinn) instead of the closed street which currently stands between them.
Tognazzini told board members during the Jan. 26 meeting that her recommendation would be to use the $89,738 to install the playground the San Martin/Gwinn Home & School Club has raised money for and put the balance of the funds into the renovation project at Los Paseos Elementary.
Earlier in the meeting, trustees unanimously approved a $78,142.72 change order for phase one of the Los Paseos renovation. Director of Construction and Modernization Al Solis told trustees this was the “second and final” change order for phase one.
Phase one, which was completed in October, included the modernization of buildings two and three, upgrading the campus utility underground infrastructure, upgrades to the parking lot, installation of three portable classrooms and installation of a bus turnaround. The $918,600 bid for this work was approved in June 2003.
Phase two of the project – the final phase – includes remodeling buildings one and four and construction of a new multipurpose room. The district entered an agreement with San Jose to take advantage of state funding to build the multipurpose room; the district, as well as the City of San Jose, would provide matching funds to qualify for the state funding.
Funding from the state is $1 million; San Jose has agreed to match that amount; the project is estimated to cost $2.5 million. The School District would have to come up with the remaining $500,000.
The change order for phase one, Solis said, was necessary in part because of unforeseen conditions. There were gas lines and water lines, he said, that were in “bad shape” and needed replacing.
The total amount of change orders for the project, Solis told trustees, is $124,672.92, which is 13.6 percent of the original contract amount. The budget for the project contained a 10 percent contingency fund. The additional 3.6 percent overage works out to more than $33,000.
It is possible the $33,000 could come from the money set aside for the San Martin/Gwinn renovation.
Tognazzini estimated that it could cost approximately $25,000 to install the San Martin/Gwinn playground, leaving approximately $64,000 in the building fund to be used for Los Paseos, if trustees decided to approve the recommendation.
Trustee Shellé Thomas said she wanted more information.
“I know we need the money, but we put aside the dollars for San Martin/Gwinn, then we need to look at that school first,” she said. “I prefer to hear from the San Martin/Gwinn staff and site council, to see if there are other needs to be addressed.”
Another renovation project would be in jeopardy if not for the generosity of the school community. The district closed Machado Elementary, the district’s oldest campus, at the end of the last school year in June. Trustees told concerned parents and the Machado Heritage Society that the board was only closing the school temporarily, or “suspending operations” at the school.
The classroom building needed extensive remodeling, and the district did not have the money to complete the work needed to make the site safe for students and teachers.
J. Augie Guardino donated work and parts to return the school’s well system to a good-as-new condition in 2003, and Paul Ward and his family donated land on the school site to the school district.
Trustees agreed to a tentative re-opening for the 2004-2005 school year.
The school houses first and second grade students.
The district is eligible to receive funding from the state for modernization, as in the case of San Martin/Gwinn and Los Paseos. The district would have to make a 60/40 match to receive $126,446, a match of $31,660. The projected project budget is $271,918, leaving the district $113,812 short.
Tognazzini and Assistant Construction Manager John Jackson have met with the Machado Heritage Society to discuss possibility of the society covering these costs.
“We are fortunate that we have a community that supports our schools,” Thomas said. “This shows a commitment on the part of our community to our schools.”
Trustee Jan Masuda requested a breakdown of projects and their costs from Tognazzini, who said she would provide it at the Feb. 9 meeting.
Last month, an auditor reported that district reserves have dipped below 3 percent.
In developing the current fiscal year’s budget, and the year before cut $2.6 million. The district has pulled money from economic uncertainty reserves required by the state, until they are 1.7 percent of the general fund.
The district was allowed to dip into these reserves without penalty last year, but the audit report recommends the balance be built up to 3 percent again.
With K-12 education funding statewide up in the air and unknown operating costs for the new Sobrato High School, trustees are expected to be looking at additional cuts for the 2004-05 school year.
The current fiscal year budget is approximately $70 million.
