Purpose
In November 2014, Santa Rosa Voters approved two general obligation bond (GOB) measures totaling $229,000,00 to the benefit of Santa Rosa City Schools. Measure I for the City of Santa Rosa High School District authorized $175,000,000 in GOBs and Measure L for the City of Santa Rosa Elementary School District authorized $54,000,000.
This study session is to provide background and process for both bond measures to the Board of Education. At the time of the bond measures passing, only one (1) current Director sat on the Santa Rosa City Schools’ Board of Education.
With both bond programs approaching 50% of available expenditures, it is time to examine completed projects, current projects, priorities, and potential future projects with the current Board of Education.
Considerations
History Prop 39 General Obligation Bonds A Prop 39 general obligation bond, approved by 55% local vote, authorizes bonds for repair, construction or replacement of school facilities addressing safety, class size, and information technology needs. Bond proceeds will be repaid from a tax to be levied on the taxable property within the boundaries of the High School District and Elementary School District respectively. Costs of issuing the bonds will be paid from the proceeds of the bonds and not from the general fund of Santa Rosa City Schools. November 2014 – Voters of Santa Rosa approve both bond measures Santa Rosa City Schools Bond Program is committed to: Providing a Safe and Modern Learning Environment Current and Reliable Technology and Labs School Repair Measures to Support Student Success
The Bond Measures can be used at our school sites to: Repair or replace leaky roofs Provide updated technology to prepare students for college and careers Repair or replace deteriorating plumbing, sewer, and electrical systems Repair or replace outdated heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems Improve access to classrooms and labs for students with disabilities Upgrade campus security, safety, and fire systems at all schools Renovate aging classrooms, science labs, restrooms, and other educational facilities Modernize or replace aging facilities based on programmatic need
Projects at the beginning of the Measure I and L
After voter approval in November 2014, three projects were moved forward for completion:
Construction and Modernization of the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts This project was in alignment with state funding that provided approximately 45% of the funds necessary for this project.
Technology Projects including: Network infrastructure including cabling Wireless access Student Devices Staff Devices
Creation of a Facilities Master Plan
Other projects would be determined after the completion and approval of the Facilities Master Plan.
Preparation for Measure I and L Facilities Projects - Facilities Master Plan
FMP Process Principles: Transparency: The process, communication, and decision making should be available to all participants. Inclusive and thorough: The process should encourage anyone interested in the process to participate at the appropriate level and should include representatives from throughout all parts of the District. Meetings were conducted bilingually when requested to ensure all could participate. Equity: The same standards, approaches, and practices will be used at each school site so that each school’s facilities are evaluated in the same way and planned to the same standards.
FMP Community Engagement:
Site Committee Meetings: Two meetings at each site including teachers, staff, parents, and administrators Educational Facilities Guidelines: Six meetings - 50+ participants representing schools throughout SRCS Student Meetings: Students at each middle school and high school had the opportunity to provide input Community Forums: Six community meetings to review the DRAFT Facilities Master Plan
FMP Approval - April 27, 2016
The development of the Facilities Master Plan allowed the District to engage the SRCS Community in a conversation about the future of our educational facilities. The FMP provides a long term plan for maintaining SRCS school facilities to continue to serve the students, staff, and the community into the future and for improving facilities to better serve the evolving needs of the twenty-first century. As intended, the facilities improvements described go far beyond the scope of Measures I & L. The Indicators of Quality analysis included in the FMP will provide an important metric in the development of the Measures I & L Implementation Plan which will identify which projects will be completed with the available funding. They will also be a tool for determining the best use of any future sources of funding. The FMP is intended to be a living document that will be updated periodically to reflect projects completed, changing conditions and educational priorities.
FMP Identification of Facilities Needs
Through Facilities Assessments and Site Committee Meetings across Santa Rosa City Schools, a broad range of needs by each facility were identified. Like many Districts in the Bay Area and across California, Santa Rosa City Schools faces a significant need for investment in its school facilities. This need stems from three different circumstances:
First, the majority of the District’s facilities were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s and are now 50-60 years old. Many of these facilities were well designed and constructed and can have many years of useful life into the future. However, they require a significant investment in modernization to make sure that they continue to serve the District.
Second, there is a significant need across the District to address what we would normally call Deferred Maintenance issues. These are periodic improvements that are needed to replace the equipment, materials, and systems within buildings that need periodic replacement. This includes things like roofing, heating and cooling equipment, lighting, finish materials, paint, paving and other items. Due to the severe budget cuts over the past decade, the state funding for Deferred Maintenance has disappeared at the same time that operational budgets have been reduced. This resulted in the necessary but unfortunate decision to cut maintenance funding and a backlog of these items.
Third, there are also a number of facilities improvements needed to address the needs of educational programs. This includes remodeling classrooms and other spaces to make more dynamic, flexible, high-performance learning environments to support the changing pedagogy of education in the twenty-first century. It also includes facilities to meet the needs of specific educational programs such as Full-Service Community Schools, Career Technical Education, Next Generation Science Standards and many others. All of these needs have been evaluated and addressed in this Facilities Master Plan.
Based on the information in the FMP, the following major conclusions were identified:
There are 185 portable classrooms throughout the District which are nearing the end of their service life and need to be replaced, to the extent they are needed, with permanent construction.
There is some misalignment of enrollment and facility capacity at the High School level which results in the need for additional classrooms at some schools and excess capacity at others.
There are facilities improvements needed to support ongoing and future District programs designed to support student learning including Full-Service Community Schools, Next Generation Science Standards, Career Technical Education, Maker Education, and others.
Technology infrastructure and equipment was extremely inadequate at the time of the Facilities Assessment, but the significant improvement has already been made through the work from Measures I & L.
First Issuance of Bond Funds:
In February 2016, SRCS successfully sold Series A Bonds for Measure I and Series A and B for Measure L. These initial bond sales funded initial general expenditures, the initial technology projects and the construction/modernization at Santa Rosa Charter for the Arts.
Amount of Bonds: Measure I Series A: High School District - $12,165,000* Measure L Series A: Elementary School District - $5,700,000^ Measure L Series B: Elementary School District - $3,800,000*
*Series A (HS) and Series B (ELEM) – Short term bonds (3-year maturity) for technology projects ^Series A (ELEM) – Conventional Bond (19-year maturity) for facilities projects
As noted previously, the bond programs, with the exception of the Charter for the Arts construction, technology, and the completion of the FMP, waited until sites could be assessed through the creation of the FMP and subsequent implementation plan. Due to the timing of approval of the FMP, large scale projects were not designed and bid during 2016. The first major projects started during the 16-17 school year for construction beginning during the summer of 2017.
Brief Overview of Projects:
2016
2017 2018 2019 Financial Information Original Budgeted Amounts for Facilities and Technology: Measure I Facilities: $146,000,000 Measure I Technology: $29,000,000 Measure L Facilities: $41,000,000 Measure L Technology: $13,000,000
Total Expenditures to Date (As of 9/30/2019) Measure I: Disbursed: $77,172,310 Encumbered: $85,563,646 Remaining: $89,436,354
Measure L: Disbursed: $25,062,294 Encumbered: $27,845,452 Remaining: $26,154,548
Projects in Process Measure I: Projects in progress, design, or waiting on approvals to be bid: Classroom Safety Locks - Remaining Sites: $311,774 Classroom Building - Montgomery High(Estimated): $30,000,000 Roofing and HVAC - Montgomery High(Estimated): $10,000,000 Roofing and HVAC - Santa Rosa High Phase II(Estimated): $7,000,000 Roofing and HVAC - Santa Rosa Middle(Estimated): $7,000,000 Classroom Technology - All Sites (Estimated): $3,600,000 Marquees at remaining sites (Estimated): $125,000
Budgeted Funds: $58,036,774 Estimated Remaining Funds after Disbursed and Budgeted: $31,399,580
Current Priority of providing Warm/Safe/Dry to remaining school sites focusing on Roofing and HVAC: Measure L: Projects in progress, design, or waiting on approvals to be bid: Classroom Safety Locks - Remaining Sites: $161,005 Classroom Technology - All Sites (Estimated): $2,400,000 Marquees at remaining sites (Estimated): $100,000
Budgeted Funds: $2,661,005 Estimated Remaining Funds after Disbursed and Budgeted: $23,493,543
Current Priority of providing Warm/Safe/Dry to remaining school sites focusing on Roofing and HVAC: Items for Discussion/Considerations: - With the creation of the SRCS’ new strategic plan and MVP, is there a need to change priorities from “warm, safe, and dry” and technology.
- Should school painting, as an identified need, become a current project?
- Estimated Costs Elementary and Middle Schools: $100,000-$150,000
- Estimated Cost High Schools: $150,000-$175,000
- In response to the current state of education should perimeter fencing be installed at our schools?
- Rod iron Fencing: $125-$135 Linear Foot
- Coated Chain-link: $55-$65 Linear Foot
- Example elementary school: $250,000
- Example middle school: $300,000
- Example high school: $400,000
Challenges Delayed start of overall Bond Program District Staffing to support the Bond Programs Lack of overall District maintenance of the condition of facilities resulting in higher than anticipated costs Non-Certified DSA projects dating back to the 1990s Contractor Workforce challenges and shortages Most major projects can only be completed during summer non-school window Reduction of staff in Maintenance and Operations in 2008 that has not been fully restored. Lack of adequate funding to address facilities needs
Links Santa Rosa City Schools’ Facilities Master Plan Previous Board History Please note that this list is not exhaustive of all Board meetings where bond information or projects were presented. August 14, 2019 (Item F.4): Bond Update
August 22, 2018 (Item F.5): Bond Update
December 20, 2017 (Item F.4): Bond Update
March 22, 2017 (Item F.2): Bond Update
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