By Scott Turnbull, Superintendent Soquel Union Elementary School District
“Good buildings come from good people, and all problems are solved by good design.” -Stephen Gardiner (bishop and politician during the English Reformation)
Measure C is Soquel Union Elementary School District’s (SUESD) $42,000,000 General Obligation Bond passed by voters in November of 2016. The district is extremely appreciative of the community’s support. We feel it is important to give regular updates regarding Measure C Projects to the community. Measure C funds will be used on play structures, educational technology, and, most importantly, building modern classrooms to replace outdated portable classrooms.
New Play Structures
When I last updated you in July, we were gearing up to build elementary school play structures, our first Measure C Project. I’m proud to report that the play structures have been a monumental success. Our students at Santa Cruz Gardens, Main Street, and Soquel Elementary have been thoroughly enjoying the play structures this year. It took a lot of coordinated effort over the summer to get those play structures completed. We’ve also added shade structures at all three elementary school sites. These projects served as a good litmus test to see if we could stick to our ambitious timelines. It confirmed that we have the right internal staff and have contracted with the right partners.
New Technology
In the area of Educational Technology, we have done some work to bolster our existing infrastructure to support better Internet connectivity. We have brought in more Chromebooks to move closer to the district’s goal of 1:1 Computing (one device per student). Finally, we have purchased eight interactive televisions, two for each site. These interactive TVs represent state-of-the-art presentation technology and have a better-projected life span than previous technologies such as LCD projectors.
Classroom Construction
As far as replacing the portables with modern classrooms is concerned, we have taken two crucial steps. First, we have partnered with a modular construction company after a thorough review process. The company, Jeff Luchetti Construction (JLC), will be the group that takes our designs and makes them come to life by building the actual classrooms.
Sometimes that term, “modular” construction, gets confused with “portables.” Let me assure you they are not synonymous, not even close. Modular construction refers to the process of building classrooms offsite and transporting them for placement on school grounds. Doing the majority of the building at a large plant away from school sites ensures that we limit the impact of construction on instruction as much as possible.
The other critical step we have taken in regards to classroom replacement is bringing interim housing on to the campus of Soquel Elementary School. Having temporary buildings in place is the first step to ultimately removing the old portables, starting the site prep work, and still have somewhere for a class to take place. The interim housing was brought in over a weekend, another way we are working to limit the impact of construction on instruction.
Citizen Oversight
We had our first Citizens’ Oversight Committee Meeting back in September. This committee is designed to review bond-related district expenditures and hold us accountable. It is a terrific group of community members who are very dedicated to the cause. They’ll be meeting again in January to continue the process. We also held Measure C Community Meetings at each of our school sites at the end of September and beginning of October. We found these meetings to be very productive and informative and allowed us to reach out to our neighbors beyond staff, students, and parents.
We have a couple of digital resources designed to keep all interested parties up-to-date with Measure C related activities. First is our Measure C Website which is accessible at http://www.soqueldo.santacruz.k12.ca.us/measure_c.html. On that website, you will find the full text of Measure C as well as information about our Citizens’ Oversight Committee. The other resource is the district’s Facebook Page, @SoquelUESD. We regularly post photos and video updates of our Measure C Projects on that Facebook Page.
Construction Safety & Disruptions
We are keeping student safety at the forefront during the construction process. Even though much of this construction will take place during summer and other breaks, there will be times when some of the work occurs while school is in session.
Our contractors are required to have all of their employees fingerprinted or continually supervised by someone who is. California Education Code 45125.2 also requires entities providing construction services to the district, where the employees of the construction company will have contact with pupils, to ensure the safety of students by the installation of a physical barrier at the worksite. Each employee will also have a picture identification card.
If you’ve ever been through any remodeling of your own home, you know that construction can be both a blessing and a curse. The result is something to be excited about, but there will most certainly be inconveniences along the way. We are working hard to minimize disruptions but realize we can’t eliminate them. We are very appreciative to our teachers and staff who have shown tremendous flexibility in handling the inevitable challenges that come along with construction.
We are targeting August of 2019 to have all of the portable classrooms replaced with modern ones across the district. This schedule indeed represents an ambitious timeline but one we are confident in given the current level of planning and preparation. Of course, there are always things we can’t control like the weather. In the end, the students, teachers, and staff of SUESD will have the modern classrooms they deserve. The district is extremely appreciative of this community for supporting us with Measure C.
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SUESD Superintendent Scott Turnbull, 831-464-5639