October 16 , 2007 |
WCPSS PODCAST: PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
At its Oct 16 meeting, the Board of Education approved a public private partnership pilot project to open an elementary school for 2010. Assistant Superintendent Mike Burriss explains the school board’s pioneering action.
Click here to listen to WCPSS Podcast: Public Private Partnership This is a 7 minute mp3 file.
WCPSS APPROVES NEW COST-SAVING DESIGN
At its Oct. 16 meeting, the Wake County Board of Education approved a new middle school design that would combine auditorium and cafeteria space.
One of the major cost savings recommendations from the Citizens’ Facility Advisory Committee (CFAC) was to reduce the area for eating and meeting. CFAC suggested either a “cafetorium” in middle schools, or a small theater that can be expanded by opening it to the cafeteria with pullout bleachers for seating.
At the Oct. 9 Facilities Committee meeting, staff presented the school board with a model for a middle school cafetorium. Under the new design, the stage and support spaces would remain unchanged from the current middle school design. The biggest change would be to the seating area, which would double as dining space and an auditorium, and be acoustically designed for middle school performances.
Overall, the design would still have a cafeteria and stage, but the two spaces would be reconfigured in order to create a shared common area for multi-use.
“The beauty of this design compromise is that you still maintain the dining area, the stage and a small intimate seating area for performances that is more nurturing and appropriate at the middle school level,” said Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler, WCPSS senior director for arts education.
The school system currently uses cafetorium designs for new elementary schools. By utilizing them in middle school designs, the system would save $300,000 and have a net reduction of 2,000 square feet per school.
“It simplifies the building design, it’s an efficient use of the space, and it does save money,” said Mike Burriss, assistant superintendent for facilities and operation.
The board will vote on the new design change at their next meeting on October 16. If implemented, the changes would affect all future middle schools, starting with Holly Grove and Mills Park which are slated to open in 2010.
CARY HIGH ARTS CENTER OPENS
Cary High School will be unveiling a new Performing Arts Center at an Opening Gala at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18.
The evening will start with a silent auction showcasing student artwork and private fine art lessons from Cary High teachers at 7 p.m. A musical program will follow at 7:30 p.m. featuring Cary High School’s talented young artists in band, orchestra, drama and choir. The evening is open to the public.
The new 15,000 square foot facility is located on the corner of Walnut Street and Maynard Road in Cary. The auditorium has a seating capacity of 588. The new facility houses practice rooms for the fine arts department along with art rooms.
Cary High School is one of the first public high schools in North Carolina. The school moved from its original site on Academy Street to the present location in 1960. The school serves 1,882 students along with 170 staff members. At this time, Cary High is undergoing major renovations throughout its campus. Completion of all renovations is slated for June 2008.
BOARD HEARS CFAC RECOMMENDATIONS
At its October 2 meeting, the Board of Education heard from Don Haydon, WCPSS Chief of Facilities and Operations, about the recommendations of the Citizens’ Facilities Advisory Committee. The committee was established jointly by the Board of Education and the Board of County Commissioners in June 2006, and charged with examining the construction practices used by the county, beginning with those of the Wake County Public School System. The committee met over the course of a year and formulated twenty-seven recommendations, affirmed certain current practices and called for further study in other areas. Their report was presented to a joint meeting of the two boards on September 19. Haydon, who has worked closely with the CFAC committee, presented an overview of their findings and recommendations.
The school system has already begun integrating CFAC recommendations, such as the cafetorium changes to middle school designs, into its operations.
BOARD RECEIVES UPDATE ON REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION PROCESS
At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Board of Education heard from several key WCPSS administrators about the process of identifying the need, location and property for new schools. Assistant Superintendent Chuck Dulaney discussed Growth and Planning Department work with NC State’s ORED lab and local governments to refine the process of anticipating growth in the community based on municipal governments’ planning for residential growth. The process allows the school system to develop areas of interest for locating schools based on geographic growth in the community.
Assistant Superintendent Mike Burriss and Betty Parker, director of the WCPSS Real Estate Department, described how they have worked with contracted real estate teams that are assigned to identify potential school sites in these areas of interest which the school system has shown as circles on planning maps.
The real estate teams were created to respond to the CIP 2006 capital improvement program which includes funds for acquisition of land for the seventeen schools to be constructed under the program and for thirteen schools that will be constructed under the next program. The real estate teams use criteria from the school system to investigate and identify potential school sites. Burriss and Parker said the school system uses this information in making decisions about property acquisition and uses the real estate teams to conduct due diligence actions to further insure the property would meet school system needs.
Once the school board approves purchase of property, the school system presents the property to the county commissioners who release funds from the school construction bond approved by voters for the purchase of the property.
BOARD APPROVED ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS FOR WAKELON ELEMENTARY (E-15)
At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved funding for improvements to roadways at Wakelon Elementary School as agreed to in the Offer to Purchase and Contract for the property dated December 20, 2004. The improvements are at Pippin Road from the center line of Pippin Road to the property boundary line fronting Pippin Road. MacGregor Development completed the work during the spring 2007 and has presented a final construction invoice, in the amount of $140,967.12, for the Board’s portion of the costs. Funding is available form the total project budget of $22,073,088, of which $21,876,183 is from PLAN 2004, $73,952 from the Town of Zebulon, and $122,953 from the Wake County Parks and Recreation.
BOARD APPROVES CONTRACT FOR MATERIALS TESTING SERVICES AT WENDELL MIDDLE SCHOOL (M-5)
At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved an agreement with Froehling & Robertson, Inc., to provide construction materials testing and inspection services for Wendell Middle School, in an amount not to exceed $138,845, in accordance with the Master Services Agreement for Geotechnical/Materials Testing Services and the Individual Project Proposal Agreement. Funding is available from the total project budget of $31,217,501, of which $1,548,373 is from PLAN 2004 and $29,669,128 is from CIP 2006.
BOARD APPROVES CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS FOR POE ELEMENTARY
At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved the construction documents for Poe Elementary, and authorized school system staff to advertise for the construction. Funding is available from the total project budget $14,089,270, of which $250,000 is from the PLAN 2004 and $13,839,270 from CIP 2006.
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