Special Workshop - SRCS Board of Education
San Rafael City Schools
March 16, 2016 6:00PM
Venetia Valley K-8 School
Multi-Purpose Room
498 Point San Pedro Rd.
San Rafael, CA 94901
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| President Kertz convened the Special Board Workshop to Open Session at 6:05 PM. |
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| Venetia Valley principal Juan Rodriguez led the Pledge of Allegiance. |
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This is the first of a series of public workshops the Board will hold regarding development of a Capital Facilities Program (CFP) implementation plan. This first workshop will focus on discussion of the parameters, cash flow, budgeting and prioritization criteria for the CFP implementation plan. Public input is welcome. For more information please visit: http://www.srcs.org/mfp
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Superintendent Watenpaugh noted this is the first of 3 workshops on Capital Facilities Program (CFP) implementation planning. He reminded all that the focus of the District's work is "Lifting student achievement; every student; every day." The Board represents the whole community; the District is seeking the community's input in these workshops to help identify the priorities for the CFP. This is a chance for community members to think like a Board member as they help to organize priorities of projects for both districts in a transparent, inclusive process, gathering feedback from stakeholders. He reviewed the changes in education with the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), noting facilities upgrades are needed to serve changes with 21st Century learning.
Dr. Watenpaugh reviewed the 18-month planning process for a Master Facilities Plan that was approved by the Board last June, and the successful passage by the community of Measures A and B this past November. He noted the conversation for this meeting will include parameters and limitations, keeping in mind the goal is the delivery of education for all students.
Sarah Schoening, CFP consultant, reviewed the history of buildings in San Rafael, most of which were built during the 1950's Baby Boom era. She reviewed the definition of a "program" versus a "project," with a program being a group of projects. She noted that the work for this evening's meeting will focus on the Capital Facilities "Program" which needs to be mapped out first. She reviewed the work will be done in phases: first workshop will review and develop priorities with consideration of parameters/givens such as the need for swing space, seismic safety and other regulations; the second workshop will take the priorities that are compiled from this first meeting to develop sample test scenarios for discussion and feedback; and a third meeting will take the feedback from the test scenarios to develop further options/scenarios for review and input.
Marcus Hibser of Hibser Yamauchi (HY) Architects introduced himself as providing assistance in the design of the District's Master Facilities Plan (MFP). Mr. Hibser reviewed: the 18-month process to develop the MFP, which consisted of holding site visioning meetings for the engagement of students, teachers, and an executive committee; bond measures approved by voters; and now the need to develop an implementation plan to identify the priorities and timeline.
Ms. Schoening noted that the implementation plan is a necessary roadmap or overall plan; a living document that will be revisited over the 8-year program. She provided a sample of what a developed implementation plan could look like. She noted that the implementation plan will be built within a conservative budget that will include set-aside contingencies for future construction costs/ escalation and construction unknowns; the contingency will be for Board authorization of use only. Monitoring cash flow is important to prevent overspending, which would require moving priorities around to balance the budget.
Other considerations: an internal and external team will be needed to run the program; swing space will be needed during construction to provide temporary housing of students during construction; and regulatory constraints such as DSA and other compliances will need to be tracked along the way to run the bond program and build safe schools.
President Kertz welcomed Marin County Supervisor Damon Connelly who was present in the audience.
Questions/comments from the audience were addressed by staff, President Kertz, Ms. Schoening and Mr. Hibser:
- Regarding process, not all stakeholders are present at this meeting. Input from this meeting will feed into the next workshop. Information from this evening will be pushed out to school sites; additional feedback will be collected from priorities ranking sheets which will be shared with school sites. Additionally, an online survey will be created. Dr. Watenpaugh noted this part of the process to develop priorities for the implementation plan needs to be completed by the end of these 3 workshops if the District is to begin work in Summer 2017.
- Regarding the priorities in the Master Facilities Plan (MFP), the MFP list of priorities need to be kept in mind as they were part of the whole vision that was set with the MFP, but the purpose of these workshops is to come together to develop top 7 priorities as a community group.
- Clarification was provided for: college and career program, flex space, parity, and program improvements.
- It was noted that the discussion is broad, and that specifics are important at this stage - The Board has to consider the entire district when making decisions; the community is being asked to look at the district as a whole.
The group separated into breakout teams; pairing with different school sites for different perspectives was encouraged. They were asked to first rank their priorities individually and then have a team discussion to hopefully reach consensus. Mr. Hibser noted that from these group discussions/consensus of the priorities, test scenarios will be developed by going back to the Master Facilities Plan looking for projects that fit the priorities identified from this meeting.
Results from the reporting out of the top 3 priorities from each group:
Group #1 (ESD):
- STEAM
- Start with the oldest facilities
- Enrollment or program
Group #2 (ESD):
- Lunch facilities and multi-purpose space
- Family center
- Flex space
Group #3: (ESD)
- Parity and critical needs haven’t been covered; basic services
- STEAM and program improvement (college and career)
- Flex space/student common area
Group #4: (ESD)
- Athletic facilities
- Program improvements: music, arts, counseling, STEAM (spaces that can be filled)
- Parity and equity for multi-use spaces; parity around being able to house programs improvements
Group #5: (ESD)
- STEAM
- Reduce overcrowding
- Adequate library and parity through schools; bring each campus up to speed
- Multi-purpose facilities for schools
Group #6: (ESD)
- Parity
- Multi-purpose room
- STEAM
Group #7 (ESD):
- Multi-purpose space
- Flex space, i.e. at Coleman
- Reception/office space and family center
Group #8 (HSD)
- STEAM
- Library center
- Parking, traffic and drop-off
- Solar
Ms. Schoening noted the team will compile the rankings and develop test scenarios to discuss pros and cons at the next meeting.
Closing:
Trustee Tuatagaloa thanked Mr. Hibser, Ms. Schoening, and district leadership for the work that has been done to develop this workshop process. He thanked the community for coming this evening to do what is best for students and the community as a whole. He noted his involvement as a board member with the previous bond construction program; although not everyone was able to get what they wanted, the District gave it their best attempt. Enrollment growth and 21st Century learning has brought the District to this point. Feedback collected this evening will give the Board framework for what is important to the community. He noted that not everyone will get what they want in this process, but they will get what is needed for students. He cautioned there will be struggles and funding decisions to be made over time, noting the potential that state funding for facilities may be available in the future and the Board could consider another bond election in the future for the ESD which has more need than the current bond dollars will cover. He noted this is the first of a series of 3 workshops for planning. He encouraged the community to come to them all. He commented that individual board members and staff are available to answer more specific questions after the meeting.
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CFP Presentation 3.16.16
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| Comments were included in workshop discussion. |
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| There being no further business, President Kertz adjourned the meeting at 7:33 PM. |
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| Present | Linda Jackson |
| Present | Rachel Kertz |
| Present | Greg Knell |
| Present | Ms. Maika Llorens Gulati |
| Absent | Natu Tuatagaloa |
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