School Board Continues to Work for Capital Bond Passage

Capital Projects Advisory Committee to be Formed

At their monthly meeting on March 31, the Orcas Island School District (OISD) Board approved moving forward on a school reconstruction bond by taking two actions:

1)      they approved starting the General Contractor/Construction Manager (GCCM) process in order to consider island contractors for the construction of replacement buildings;

2)      they approved forming a bond advisory committee — the Capital Projects Committee – to function in a similar way to the Budget Advisory Committee.

The OISD’s Capital Bond proposal failed in the February 2010 election, although 55 % of the voting public approved the request for a 25-year, $35 million bond to replace buildings and infrastructure at the Eastsound campus. Bond approval requires a 60% “yes” vote to pass.

The Bond is intended to fund the replacement of existing buildings, including the Career and Technical Education (woodshop) building, the Middle School, the cafeteria, library and district office. Engineering audits have indicated these buildings are failing, as are the plumbing and heating systems in the Elementary School building; they have been described as unsafe, unhealthy and wasteful to maintain.

Board President Scott Lancaster explained that starting the GCCM contract process was placed on the agenda, in order to have that option in place should the bond be accepted in August. The GCCM model is an alternative way to construct projects, as opposed to the design-bid-build process: it allows the District Board to hire a contractor early in the process, so that the Board could work closely with the architects during the design phase, Board member Janet Brownell has said. “The goal is to reduce or eliminate costly change orders, schedule conflicts and construction problems. For Orcas, there is the additional prospect of being able to involve more local contractors and workers in the project, thus keeping the bond money circulating in our local economy.”

Lancaster was concerned that the timeline required by the State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in securing a GCCM be observed. “If we could get a head start, it would give us the option [to decide upon which construction method will be used]” Lancaster said.

The Board agreed with Lancaster and approved a motion to start the GCCM process.

Board Member Tony Ghazel and OISD Superintendent Barbara Kline will form the Capital Projects Advisory Committee. Ghazel indicated he’d prefer the committee work specifically on the upcoming bond; and there was consensus among the board for the advisory group to serve on an ongoing basis, with their first focus to be the bond vote in August.

Board Member Chris Sutton said that it was the District Board’s “responsibility to provide a safe productive campus for students to learn at. We have some major facility problems that need to be addressed.” Sutton and Ghazel were in favor of setting a figure for the bond amount to be requested in August, but instead were persuaded to wait until the April 22 meeting for a more complete discussion of the bond proposal. Board member Janet Brownell emphasized the need to have input from OISD teachers before settling upon Bond figures.

Retiring board member Keith Whitaker, who was the liaison between the OISD board and the Budget Advisory Committee, reminded the meeting that “a whole lot of people who do a whole lot of work” were instrumental in the success of the BAC.

The OISD board plans to have the Capital Projects Advisory Committee in place should the bond meet with approval in the August election. Those interested in serving should call the OISD office at 376-2284.