May 2008

Members Present: Dick Jones, Ginny Markell, Yvonne McVey, Heather Noren, Kristin Mitchell, Renee King, Julie Volpel, Todd Caldwell

Absent: Jeff Klein, John Mathews, Gary Lane, Tom Feely

District Staff Present: Jim Langstraat, Garry Kryszak, Leslie Robinette, Joe Krumm, Ron Naso, Blair Loudat, Matt Utterback, Ron Stewart, Vicki Chambers

Absent: none

School Board Members Present: Rein Vaga

Community Members Present: none

Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Summer 2008 projects: Garry Kryszak

Ardenwald Elementary:
Design of a new 62,500 Square foot elementary school has been approved. It will be a two-story school built on the historic Ardenwald site.

The groundbreaking for this site is scheduled for June 4, with work beginning June 15.

The school will open in September 2009.

Question: Are there summer school activities in 2009 that will be disrupted?
Answer: No activities are planned yet. The program could be moved to another site if construction would disrupt it, and bus transportation would be provided.

Bilquist Elementary:
This project will add four classrooms, move the media center, expand the office, and provide general building upgrades, including new flooring, new classroom sinks, new paint, replace window glazing, clear story windows at main hallway intersections to add light, and an expanded parking lot.

This project came in within budget: $6.3 million.

Happy Valley Elementary & Middle School:
Construction moving forward quickly on these two new schools. The elementary classroom wing has been roofed, interior framing completed, and the exterior brick and windows installed.

Installation of interior dry wall is nearing completion.

The project is on track to open to elementary students in September 2008.

Students will be released three school days early to allow added time for packing and moving out of the existing building which will be demolished in July.

Portions of the old school building will be torn down starting on July 4.

Linwood Elementary:
This project’s budget estimate was too low-- $2.8 million. The actual price of this project will be $6.4 million. This project is similar in components and cost to Bilquist.

This project will provide:

• improved campus security
• expanded and remodeled office and entryway to improve security
• a new bus drop off
• a 4 classroom addition
• a new media center
• a new gym

The Board approved an alternative contracting method. Only one actual bid was received so we went with a guaranteed maximum price CM/GC contract.

Additional funds needed for this project will come in part from contingency funds. In doing this, we are not jeopardizing any other projects that have been promised to the community.

Construction begins as soon as school is out.

Work will continue on this project in the fall, and will be disruptive during the next school year until its completion in March 2009.

Milwaukie High Remodel
This project includes:

• a new black box theater, dance studio, and arts classrooms
• auditorium lobby remodel
• asbestos removal from the ceiling of the old auditorium
• renovation of the girls team room
• restrooms off the gym
• interior upgrades, paint, and replacement of old heating units

Emerick Construction is doing the job.

There will also be substantial athletic facility improvements at Milwaukie High:

• a new 8-lane track
• new field lights
• new all-weather turf
• new visitor bleachers

The field project is moving along very quickly. The stadium was remodeled extensively in the 1998 bond, so that is not needed.

Question: Is the asbestos abatement in the price estimate for the Milwaukie High site?
Answer: Contingency funds were needed to cover this expense.

Oak Grove Elementary:
A new bus exit will be built previding an egress to Courtney St. This will solve traffic issues on Torbank, improving traffic flow and safety. This will include a gate at Courtney that limits the exit to bus traffic only.

Rex Putnam High School remodel:
Design drawings are now complete for the major remodel that moves the office and counseling center to the northwest corner of the building and creates a new commons in the center of the building. Land use planning approvals have been received. Skanska Construction will be the CM/GC contractor for the project. The project is on track to begin construction in June.

The project includes:

• a new school entry
• a reconfigured office, counseling and kitchen areas
• a new and expanded commons
• remodeled science classrooms
• general building upgrades

Work at this site will continue through the next school year, causing disruptions to the school. Projects to be done during the summer of 2009 include a new weight room, a new kitchen, and a better servery a science classroom remodel, and a media center upgrade. A major upgrade of seven science rooms will happen either the summer of 2008 or summer of 2009.

We will install all new lockers and flooring in the upper halls. There will be many classroom upgrades, such as paint and new white boards. The project will be complete by fall 2009.

The work at Putnam echoes the office, commons, and science room upgrades completed with previous bond projects at Milwaukie High School.

This work will allow for more expansion of the media center to adjacent areas.

Skanska Contstruction is doing this project as well as the Bilquist project.

Numerous improvements to athletic facilities areunderway, including expanding the track to 8 lanes, adding new field lighting, installing an all-weather turf field, and completing a major upgrade to the softball field.

Drainage problems above the field have already been addressed.

This project is a month ahead of where last year’s Clackamas High field project was at this time last year.

Question: People have asked about the track, field, and grandstands at Putnam. Any work to grandstands on this site?
Answer: Yes, there will be paint, anti-pigeon measures and some pressbox work.

Question: Will there be gym work at Putnam High this summer?
Answer: Not this summer. The upstairs gym floor at Putnam will be refinished later in the project.

Rock Creek Middle School and Verne A. Duncan Elementary
These two adjacent new schools will be located between 162nd and 172nd just north of Highway 212. The middle school will be 128,000 square feet. This building will be complete in fall 2010. Rock Creek Middle School has been designed for possible future expansion into a high school.

A lot of road work will be associated with this project.

Question: Will there be a street in the middle of the campus?
Answer: Yes, there will be a street between the middle school and the elementary school.

Question: When could Rock Creek become a high school?
Answer: We currently have a high school build for 1800 students. (Clackamas High without portables). Rock Creek Middle School, expanded, would be the same size high school. The community will likely want us to wait until we have 2,800 high school students in the Clackamas High School feeder. That would be the logical time to split. When will that happen? Perhaps 2015, or perhaps later, given the current housing slowdown. Maybe 2017. The latest demographers report shows 7% growth rate in the Clackamas High area, a significant slowdown.

This idea is a tremendous hedge against the future. If we determine later that we don’t need a 4th high school, then Rock Creek could remain a middle school.

We have been holding the Altamont property on the premise that we will need another elementary school there, but what we have discovered is that Mt. Scott’s enrollment has dropped as Altamont has been built up because the established population there has already had their children move out of the school system.

Question: Clackamas High School is built for 1800 students (without portables). How many students can the Sunrise campus accommodate without portables?
Answer: 950 students, plus some wiggle room given that at any point during the school day, a portion of high school students are taking classes at the Sabin-Schellenberg Career-Technical Center.

Next school year, Clackamas High will have 2300 students and Sunrise Middle School will have 1200 students. In fall 2009, half the middle schoolers will move to Happy Valley Middle. In 2010, the other half of the Sunrise students will move to the new Rock Creek Middle. In fall 2010, the Sunrise campus will open to Clackamas High students.

Question: Will 09-10 be a year when Clackamas High and Sunrise Middle share the Sunrise campus?
Answer: That depends on high school enrollment.

Verne A. Duncan Elementary:
This two-story elementary school will have a larger base kitchen that serves other schools in the area.

In keeping with the District goal to develop all new schools with “green” concepts in mind, Verne A. Duncan Elementary has in its design environmentally sensitive parking lot drainagew, bioswales to filter roof and paved area drainage, use of natural light and ventilation, increased insulation, lighting controls, high efficiency glass and exterior light shelves to reduce heat buildup in side classrooms. Construction will commence around July 4 and open in the fall of 2009.

All our new schools are designed so that we can close off the classroom areas from public areas, enabling the public to use gyms and other facilities when schools are closed, evenings and weekends.

Question: What kind of fencing will be used at Verne A. Duncan?
Answer: Fences will be black vinyl chain link.

Rowe Middle School:
The major renovation at Rowe Middle School will expand the gym, add a band/choir area, remodel the locker rooms, create a new entry, upgrade the kitchen, and provide a general building upgrade.

We will move the Rowe bus drop to the North.

The expanded gym (50% bigger) will be the same size as the new Rock Creek and Happy Valley Middle School gyms. It will seat the entire student body, and because it will be dividable, the space is versatile. A new elevator will provide access to the second floor gym.

Fire sprinklers throughout will enable us to eliminate most hallway doors.

We have decided to postpone the kitchen work for a few years so we can do more extensive work if contingency funds allow it.

Question: Will the gym floor at Rowe be replaced? People during basketball season have complained that the floor is slippery.
Answer: That is not planned. The main floor gym is quite new. The existing gym floor will be stripped down to bare wood and refinished. When this process is completed, the existing floor and new floor will match seamlessly.

Scouters Mountain Elementary
This new school will be located north of Sunnyside Road on 172nd, near the fire station.

The design is complete, and construction drawings are being prepared. The land use application and design review applications have been approved by the City of Happy Valley. Has completed all city approvals. This project goes out to bid on May 28th.

This will be a welcoming, open school with lots of windows, more corner windows.

The new two-story elementary school feeatures a stage that opens onto the gym, and an innovative an open media center and stairwell windows that allow lots of natural light.

Many of the same “green” features of the Verna A. Duncan Elementary are included in the Scouters Mountain design.

Due to its location it will be necessary to extend utilities to meet with existing service points.

This includes putting in a mile of water line and 2000 feet of sewer line. Some of these costs will be reimbursed by future development, or as in the case of the Sunrise Water District, providers will pay a portion of the cost.

The city is concerned about how this building fits with the neighborhood, so we are working to address that concern.

Sabin-Schellenberg Professional-Technical Center:
The PACE building at the Sabin Center will be remodeled, bringing it up to current codes as a child care site. These upgrades are part of the bond program.

A number of smaller projects will take place this summer:

Sunnyside Elementary:
--Siding work, interior upgrades and electrical upgrades

Clackamas Elementary:
--A conference room, improvements to the annex wing restrooms, play equipment area upgrades, and imporvemennt sot sidewalks and planter areas.

Spring Mountain:
--rubber stairway treads and Improved acoustics in the library, gym, and cafeteria.

This is the most aggressive school construction effort in Oregon history.

Remember that the new administrative center, which begins construction this fall, is not a bond project. We will begin work on that project this fall, and it will open in summer 2009. It will be located on the north campus of the Sabin-Schellenberg campus.

Approval of Minutes from 2/20/08: Minutes approved as written.

Contingency Allocation: Ron Stewart

Some contingency funds have been allocated for major projects at Milwaukie High, Rowe, Linwood, the Milwaukie High athletic facilities work, and the Putnam High athletic facilities work.

Question: Are under-budget projects to add funds back to fulfill other promises?
Answer: Yes, in time.

This includes the $1 million for the Linwood classroom addition.

This includes the partnership funds that will later be reimbursed by the parks dept.

Question: Why is the cost of Bilquist lower than allocated?
Answer: It is not under budget. What you don’t see is the cost of design work, fees, and furnishings.

Most of the contingency allocations are for renovation projects, because these projects are most likely to run into unexpected costs as the work progresses-- for example, the asbestos removal in the Milwaukie High auditorium.

Property acquisition update: Ron Stewart

We are continuing work on property acquisition for four school sites:

Verne A. Duncan Elementary and Rock Creek Middle School
--9 of 10 properties, representing 37 of 40 acres have reached sales agreements
--1 parcel (2.87 acres) is still in negotiations. The district has legal ownership and has paid money, but the final price is still being negotiated.

Scouters Mountain Elementary
--1 of three parcels, representing 2.39 of 17.45 acres has reached a sales agreement.
-- 2 parcels are still in final price negotiations.

Future Elementary School (North) on Vogel Road
--1 of 3 parcels, representing 2.96 of 8.6 acres has reached a sales agreement.
--2 parcels are still in negotiations.

Future Elementary School (South) TBD:
--Properties have been identified and discussions have occurred.

Financial Report: Jim Langstraat

In terms of the property tax rate, if the county assessor’s estimate is accurate, we will be just under 99 cents per thousand for the bond this year, well below the $1.10 maximum we promised the community.

The unallocated contingency is now down to $4.7 million.

We’ll end up spending $260 million on projects before we are done.

Question: Doesn’t this show that the Milwaukie region is getting their fair share?
Answer: Four of our major projects are in the Milwaukie High attendance area: Ardenwald, Linwood, Rowe Middle, and Milwaukie High.

Comment from Yvonne: If you explain the Clackamas High region costs as creating a new or future feeder system, people better understand the investment there.

We have done very well with our investments, making more than $14 million in interest income.

This monthly financial report is posted in the finance section on the bond web site.

The one place we are in the red currently is in the sports facilities because for the short term, we have fronted the cost for partnership funds promised from the North Clackamas Parks and Recreation Department. They will reimburse us for these funds later.

We invested our money early, before the market went haywire, so we are collecting reasonable revenue. Some of the funds were invested three to five years out, and those funds are yielding around 5% interest. Now that the rates have changed, we are protected.

We have a double protection in this process. If we are forced to reinvest at a lower rate, we simply pay less in arbitrage.

Currently ¾ of our bond funds are locked up in investments and ¼ is more liquid.

School naming update: Joe Krumm

The School Board approved the names of four new schools on April 17.

• Happy Valley Middle School
• Rock Creek Middle School
• Scouters Mountain Elementary
• Verne A. Duncan Elementary

Groundbreakings are coming up:
May 29: 12:30 Verne A Duncan and Rock Creek 1:30 p.m. Scouter’s Mountain.

Please park at the Abundant Life Church and we will shuttle you in.

June 4: 1:30 Ardenwald

June 5: 1 p.m. at Rex Putnam High

2 p.m. @ Milwaukie High

3 p.m. @ Rowe Middle School

Questions & Answers

Question: How goes the redistricting process?
Answer: The school district presented the boundary committee with a boundary realignment proposal in February. After six committee meetings and fifteen community meetings the committee significantly modified the district's proposal based on community and school input.

The community should feel good about the process. There were many opportunities for public comment and the committee really took those comments to heart. The committee's final recommendation to the board will be posted on the district website shortly.

About 1700 elementary students will change schools. The current high school feeder system will remain intact.

When families return to schools in the fall there will be large poster boards on display showing the proposed boundary changes for impacted schools.

The school board will hear a detailed report of the committee's recommendation at their September 18 Board meeting.

There will be opportunities for public comment at the Board meeting on October 2, with a vote on the boundary recommendation scheduled for the October 16 Board meeting.

Question: Should the Citizen Oversight Committee think about how to corral rumors? Can this group be a springboard to ease the information flow as we move forward to the next bond proposal? Can we meet over coffee to discuss this and bring our ideas back to the September meeting?

Question: Can we add to the Q&As on the web site by sharing the questions that come to us and the answers staff provides?
Answer: If you do get questions from the community, please forward them to Leslie so we can answer them on the web site.

Question: What is the bus barn situation?
Answer: We have identified a possible piece of property for the bus barn, but we are concerned about the eminent domain process impacting an existing business that provides tax revenues to the community. We are working to find an appropriate site.

Question: Stand for Children is working on dental issues for children in need. Will the new Ardenwald have a space for the dental van? Any chance for another site? Lot Whitcomb and Clackamas Elementary both have a big need for this service.
Answer: At Ardenwald, yes. On other sites, we have not yet considered that yet.

Comment from Kristin Mitchell: As 172nd develops, it will be designed for mixed income housing, so there may be more social needs in that area in the future.

Question: What happens with funds allocated for Wichita?
Answer: If that sites moves to another use, the bond funds may be used for other purposes.

Question: Can the district invest in oil futures?
Answer: Yes, but we have not because there’s a risk.

Next meetings:
Tour of the new facilities with School Board members on August 20, time to be announced.

Next meeting: September 17 @ 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room

Meeting adjourned 8:47 p.m.