With the cooperation of the weather, construction crews working
on the new Sobrato High, located on Burnett Avenue just north
Morgan Hill, are actually a bit ahead of schedule now, although Al
Solis, director of construction and modernization for the School
District, is quick to point out that there are always possibilities
for unforeseen delays.
With the cooperation of the weather, construction crews working on the new Sobrato High, located on Burnett Avenue just north Morgan Hill, are actually a bit ahead of schedule now, although Al Solis, director of construction and modernization for the School District, is quick to point out that there are always possibilities for unforeseen delays.
The approximately $76 million high school is scheduled to open for 9th and 10th grade students in August 2004. Another grade will be added in ech of the next two years.
“We have really been very fortunate,” said Solis of working conditions. “Although we have had some periods of rain, we have had enough time to get much of the concrete poured.”
One potential problem, which Solis says is mainly a timing problem, is with the roof trusses for the buildings. A special type of truss, a light gauge metal truss, is being used, saving the district “a lot of money,” he said. The problem is that the Division of the State Architect (DSA) is requiring more analysis than usual on the trusses because they are a new type.
“We submitted the plans back in June,” Solis said. “Plans for a typical high school, the entire school, are approved in three to four months. But there have been problems. They lost the original submittal. Then we provided an electronic structural analysis, but they wanted a manual verification, then they didn’t want just one configuration, they wanted an analysis each time the configuration changes and there are 17 of them.”
Solis said there were even more requirements from DSA, because the trusses are new, and the Turner and the contractor are meeting them, but it is taking more time than they thought.
The contractor is installing the trusses, at their risk, Solis said, and if the DSA requires additional reinforcement, it will be at no cost to the district.
“The DSA process has taken an unusually long time, and we felt we needed to move ahead, but we didn’t do so without good consultant advice from structural engineer Bill Knox,” he said.
Although district students registered for both Live Oak and Sobrato last week, enrollment numbers are not yet available, according to Sobrato Principal Rich Knapp.
“Computers are wonderful tools, but they sometimes let us down, and this is one of those times,” he said Wednesday. “We are having to manually recheck all the students.”
Knapp said once the numbers are tallied, the staff selection process for Sobrato can continue.
“I hope to name the staff the week we come back from vacation,” he said. “Teachers have until the 17th to apply for a transfer. Before we would do an involuntary transfer, we would go back out an ask again.”
Knapp said he did not have a budget for salaries and did not yet know the number of teachers that would be required.
“I know that we will have one teacher for every 32.5 kids,” he said. “Sobrato will be staffed the same way Live Oak is staffed. Denise (Tate, Assistant Superintendent, in charge of human resources) and I are holding our breath waiting for those (enrollment) numbers.”
Knapp said he knew there would be additional staffing costs the first year the high school is open.
“There will be some above what we’re paying right now, possibly $100,000-$200,000,” he said. “There are salary issues, such as new department chairs. We’re still working on the exact number. I met with classified the other day, to discuss how many secretaries we will need and which schools they will come from.”
He wants the staff to participate in the purchase of supplies for the school, Knapp said.
The money for these items, not staff salaries, is coming out of the bond money, said Knapp, under “FFE”, or furniture, fixtures and equipment.
“I have a budget of $3.9 million for FF&E,” he said. “So far, I’m staying within the limit. I’ve spent probably less than $100,000.”
Although he hasn’t spent much, he has set money aside for other items: $150,000 for a collection of library books, approximately $500,000 for technology, $200,000 to start up the music program and $500,000 for equipment and uniforms for athletics.
Knapp said he has been researching costs of these items so he could decide how much to set aside.
“I am moving slow on (technology) because until my staff is named, I don’t know how they want to use technology within the buildings,” he said. “As far as athletics, I haven’t spent the money because we don’t know what the students want to play and what teams we’re offering. I did a survey a year ago, and based on that and prices of equipment, I decided to set aside the $500,000.”
“As far as textbooks, the textbooks follow the students,” said Knapp. “We will have only minimal new purchases either at Live Oak or Sobrato, and some will move from Live Oak to Sobrato.”
Knapp is working with consultants to make decisions on furnishings.
“I’m meeting every three weeks with School Specialty, looking at whatever needs to be ordered,” he said. “We’re finishing up identifying the chairs and desks we’ll need.”
“But now we’re looking at eight months (until the school is scheduled to open.) It’s closing fast, and there are so many things to do still. It’s important to keep moving.”
Plans for the high school were scaled back to 173,902 square-feet to accommodate 1,500 students at an estimated cost of $76 million instead of the 2,500 originally intended. The school was originally designed at 186,000 square-feet. It will largely be funded by the $72 million bond issue, Measure B, passed in June 1999. The bond issue also included money to build Barrett Elementary and renovate the aging Live Oak High School.
