Bond Committee meeting looks at costs of building designs

At the most recent school bond meeting with design architect Carlos Sierra conferencing via telephone, the Orcas Island School District (OISD) bond committee went through the latest version of the Educational Specification Update page-by-page.

The June 16 meeting gathered representatives of various school departments, such as the library, the music program, Career and Technology Education, cafeteria, maintenance, the athletic department and administration in an attempt to “cost-out” the price for proposed school improvements and new construction.

The update describes various scenarios and the bond funding required upon the demolition of the present middle school, library ,and  district administration buildings.

According to the plan summary, “The chief concerns with the new building and modernization program involves the middle school layout and location, the art and music program spaces at the middle and high school levels; the career and technical education program (CTE) and space; adequate physical activity/multipurpose/gathering spaces; service kitchen functionality; district administration office layout and space, library community gathering and meeting spaces; faculty lounge and meeting space; school administration offices modernization; increased concerns for safety of separaration of parent drop off and bus loops, increased partking for community use and hazardous removal and improvements to the Waldron School building and campus.”

Twenty-six OISD teachers, staff and administrators particpated in the 87-page plan, which is available at the OISD District office on School Road in Eastsound.

Part of the process, in determining whether to move forward with a new bond issue when the current school bond expires this December, is to make sure that important elements are not only seen and recognized now, but are apprehended for the life of the bond, Superintendent Barbara Kline said after the meeting.

“What is it that we really have to do?” she asks rhetorically, and adds that while both needs and wants were discussed at the meeting of the draft plan, “the biggest “want” was to get the “needs” taken care of.”

The buildings that must be replaced are the middle school building, the library and the district office — all poorly built, Kline said, with flat roofs and ‘a fairly short life left.’

“While we don’t want to forget things, we want to get it [the renovation] done and move on,” Kline said.

“We want to be sure to get what is needed without wasting public money. So we need to look at everything and ask if we should do it now rather than in another six years.”