School Construction Report
January 22, 2007 |
BOARD OF EDUCATION HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS/WORK SESSIONS
The Board of Education will hold a final public hearing on the 2007-08 growth management proposal 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24 at Knightdale High School.
The board held two public hearings Jan. 16. At Green Hope High, they heard 33 people and at Middle Creek High 16 speakers. In a Jan. 18 public hearing at Leesville High, the board heard 45 speakers. Nearly 800 people have submitted comments online at www.wcpss.net.
The board reviewed the growth management proposal in the committee of the whole meeting Jan. 9 and in an eight-hour work session Jan. 22. Another board work session is planned for Friday, Jan. 27.
BOARD HEARS INFORMATION ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
The Board of Education received additional information on public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a financing mechanism at its Facilities Committee meeting, Jan. 16. Doug Westmoreland of FirstChoice Public-Private Partners and Mary Nash Rusher with Hunton and Williams LLP shared the advantages/disadvantages of PPPs, differences between Virginia and North Carolina legislation, legal implications, and lessons learned. A.P. Carlton, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, provided the board a legal perspective on the partnerships.
Westmoreland noted that only six school projects have been completed using PPPs since Virginia approved the legislation in 2002; three of those projects were through FirstChoice.
The North Carolina Legislature ratified Senate Bill 2009 in August 2006, giving school systems the ability to enter into a lease for privately developed public schools.
BOARD OF EDUCATION CHAIR'S COMMENTS AT JAN. 9 MEETING
Here are the comments from Board of Education chair Patti Head that began the Board of Education meeting Jan. 9, 2007:
Each afternoon prior to the formal Board of Education meetings, the board conducts a work session called the committee of the whole. This afternoon we spent our time together discussing a very difficult and disturbing development that occurred at last evening's county commissioner meeting and in the interest of true public disclosure, I as board chair, feel the need to share my thoughts and our discussions.
Last evening, the citizens of Wake County witnessed the public abandonment by the county commission of more than two years of cooperative work between the Board of Education and the Wake County Board of Commissioners to address the explosive growth and our tremendous facility needs in this county.
This past November the citizens of Wake County spoke to both boards by passing a Capital Improvement Plan that was not the product of the Board of Education, but a plan that was mutually developed by the county and the Board of Education. The county commissioners played an active role - step by step in developing a reasoned and fiscally sound solution to meeting the educational needs of the children of Wake County who are in our schools at this very moment and those who are most certainly coming by the thousands to our excellent school system each year. In fact, one year ago this month, staff presented no less than five different scenarios for consideration in order to meet our capacity needs. The solutions ranged from building enough schools to avoid any year-round conversions, to converting nearly all schools to a year-round calendar. The final product, agreed to by both boards, required year-round conversion which the commissioners refused to fund last night.
Last night the county commissioners reneged on the promises made during the bond campaign approved by voters just nine weeks ago today. I as chair of the Board of Education and most of my fellow board members will work to uphold the trust of those who supported our plan to maintain a public school system that is the envy of the nation.
Today I called on Superintendent Burns and his staff to address some key questions which arose from yesterday's commissioner meeting. It is important for our community to hear the answers.
--We must utilize our current strategies or we will not have 4,500 seats for students come July of this year.
--The implications for delaying the renovations requested include the loss of capacity and health and safety issues for our existing schools.
--Funding the new schools is premature and will not provide the seats needed in the next three school years.
The Board of Education today directed Superintendent Burns to examine the fiscal implications of the commissioners' decision on our immediate needs to seat more than 8,000 students for the upcoming school year. We have also directed our legal counsel to report back to the board her findings regarding the actions taken yesterday and what options we may want to examine legally.
This has been a long, hard process that we as a board have worked in good faith to meet the needs of this community and this school system. There have been extremely difficult decisions made; there will be difficult decisions to be made in the future. We have entered into a covenant with this community and we expect to keep the commitments we have made.
BOARD PROVIDES PRE APPROVAL FOR BIDS FOR KNIGHTDALE ELEMENTARY ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS PHASE 2
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the Board of Education gave pre-approval of bids for Phase 2 additions and renovations for Knightdale Elementary, provided the bids are within the budget of $5,025,625. Bids were due to be received on Jan. 4, 2007. Staff will provide recommendation for award and bid tabulations, for ratification at a future Board meeting. Pre-approval allows acceleration of preliminary construction activities at minimal financial risk. Funding is available from the total project budget of $6,426,511, as provided in the PLAN 2000 School Building Program.
BOARD APPROVES SCHEMATIC DESIGN FOR E-22 (CARY PARK)
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the Board of Education approved the schematic design documents prepared by Cherry Huffman Architects, P. A. for construction of the E22 (Cary Park area) Elementary School. In order to meet the tight construction schedule needed to complete this project for a 2008 school opening, it is proposed to advertise some bid packages early, before completion of the total design package. Staff has reviewed the construction documents for these early bid packages and requests board approval and authorization to advertise. Staff will present the award of the contracts to the Board for approval on Feb. 20, 2007. Funding is available from the total project budget of $22,216,953, of which $745,000 is from PLAN 2004 School Building Program, $330,823 is available from funds passed through Wake County from the developer in fiscal year 2004-2005, $15,971,953 from CIP 2006, and $5,169,177 is to be provided by the developer.
BOARD AGREES TO SALE FOR PORTION OF EAST CARY MIDDLE SCHOOL LAND
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the Board of Education approved the sale of a portion of its land at East Cary Middle School. The board owns 40.0 acres of land on Southeast Maynard Road known as the East Cary Middle School tract that it currently uses as a ninth grade center for Cary High School. On August 8, 2006, the Board of Education declared the southernmost 5.0 acres of the tract as surplus property and ordered its sale. At its Sept. 18, 2006 meeting, the Wake County Board of Commissioners declined to purchase the property at fair market value. Terms and conditions of an Offer to Purchase and Contract have been reached to sell the approximately 5.0 acres of the southern end of the property to Town of Cary at a purchase price of $150,000.
BOARD APPROVES DESIGNER FOR CHILD NUTRITION WAREHOUSE
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the Board of Education approved a resolution providing a waiver of the traditional designer selection process and selecting H.S. Annis Architects for the design of the Child Nutrition Warehouse expansion at the Rock Quarry Central Services Complex. This request is in accordance with NCGS 143-64.32, which allows the exemption of the statutory designer selection process. The specific reason for this exemption is that H.S. Annis was the architect for the last Child Nutrition addition project on the campus and is familiar with the campus. Also this design is expected to be a pre-engineered metal building addition and this designer has experience with the building type having designed other pre-engineered schools for the school system. This waiver will shorten design time, reduce cost, and help expedite the project.
BOARD APPROVES INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS FOR THREE SCHOOL SITES
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the Board of Education approved interlocal agreements to work with local governments at three school sites.
At the Heritage High site, Wake County Government, the Town of Wake Forest, and the Board of Education are working together for the development of a school and adjacent park near the intersection of Rogers Road and Forestville Road. The Board, Town, and County contributed funds for the land purchased and deeded to the Board. The Board, Town, and County jointly planned the development of the outdoor recreational facilities for the site. The Board is responsible for the preparation of the project’s master plan to include additional athletic fields, parking, drive access, and associated infrastructure approved and funded by the Town and County. The Board will supervise construction of the school and the additional recreational improvements funded by the County and Town. The County and Town are responsible for the construction costs of the recreational improvements as well as the design costs associated with those improvements. The County will contribute $242,000 to the Town towards the design and construction costs of the recreational improvements and the Town is contributing up to $3,300,000 towards the design and construction costs of the recreational improvements in accordance with the approved Master Plan. The Town is also responsible for any change orders associated with their portion of the project. The Joint Use Agreement has been drafted and is awaiting review and approval.
At the Banks Road Elementary site, Wake County and the Board of Education jointly purchased 53.06 acres on August 2, 2006 for development for an elementary school site (E-23) and other park components to be collaboratively planned by and divided among Wake County, Town of Fuquay-Varina, and Board of Education. The County, Town and Board have since jointly developed a concept plan for development of the site and identification of proposed property lines for subdivision of the tract into three parts: open space to be deeded to Wake County, a Town park area to be deeded to Town of Fuquay-Varina, and an elementary school site to be deeded to the Board of Education. The Town agrees to purchase the acreage for the Town park for $15,000 per acre, and the County and Board of Education will reconcile the amounts already paid at closing to reflect the Town’s purchase, the County’s agreement to purchase the open space for $7,500 per acre, and the Board’s agreement to purchase the school site for $24,217 per acre. The Town, County and Board will jointly plan for development of the property pursuant to an agreed upon Master Plan, which will include the following minimum proposed design features: an 800 student capacity (traditional) elementary school and related program areas (Board’s Obligation); a Town Park consisting of active recreation areas including three soccer fields and a baseball field, restroom/concession building, picnic shelters, playgrounds, additional parking and other amenities (Town’s Obligation); and the preservation of open space to protect the Middle Creek significant natural area (County’s Obligation). The County and Town are responsible for the construction costs of the recreational improvements as well as the design costs associated with those improvements. The County is contributing up to $250,000 to the Town towards the design and construction costs of the recreational infrastructure improvements. The Town is also responsible for change orders associated with their portion of the project.
At the E-24 elementary site in northwest Raleigh, the Board of Education purchased 33.938 acres on Sept. 20, 2006, for development for an elementary school site (E-24) and other park components to be collaboratively planned by and divided among the Board of Education and City of Raleigh. Wake County, City, and Board have since jointly developed a concept plan for development of the site and identification of proposed property lines for subdivision of the tract into two parts: a city park area to be deeded to City of Raleigh, and an elementary school site to be retained by the Board of Education. The City agrees to purchase the acreage for the city park for a price to be determined by a formula included in the Interlocal Agreement, and based upon final surveyed acreage of each parcel and appraised values as determined by a jointly funded appraisal. The City, County, and Board will jointly plan for development of the property pursuant to an agreed upon Master Plan, which will include the following minimum proposed design features: an 800 student capacity (traditional) elementary school and related program areas (Board’s Obligation); a neighborhood park consisting of active and passive recreation areas, that may include open play fields, restrooms, picnic shelters, playgrounds, trails, parking facilities and other amenities, and the preservation of open space and natural areas (City’s Obligation). The County and City are responsible for the construction costs of the recreational improvements as well as the design costs associated with those improvements. The County is contributing up to $250,000 to the City towards the design and construction costs of the recreational infrastructure improvements. The City is also responsible for change orders associated with their portion of the project.
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The School Construction Report is published electronically every other week for everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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