Classrooms Made from Shipping Containers Win School Board Nod

The Albany school board tonight, Thursday, gave the green light to proceed with plans to replace out-of-code MacGregor High School with portables made of recycled shipping containers.

The approval came on a 5-0 vote and is conditional on voters passing a ballot measure in June to allow the district to use remaining revenues from a 2008 bond measure for the community pool, Measure E, for the new classrooms.

Later in the same meeting, the board voted unanimously to place such a measure on the June 2014 ballot. The scope and wording of the measure are to be determined later.

Board president Jonathan Knight said he was skeptical of using refurbished shipping containers from the firm GrowthPoint when he first heard the idea about six months ago but became a supporter after discovering the significant transformation that the structures undergo.

"At the time, I thought, 'That's crazy, and I don't want a bunch of containers stacked up,'" he said. "But I am now actually really excited about this. I think it's a great option now that I've seen all the details and advantages of it, and that they won't actually look like container ships stacked up on the side. It'll look much nicer than that."

Judging from the staff and board comments during the meeting, the replacement structures would be chiefly for classrooms and a multi-purpose room for Albany Middle School, which is across the street. MacGregor High, which is the district's continuation high school, has a very small enrollment, and its site currently hosts spillover classes from Albany High and the middle school in addition to MacGregor classes.

Board member Paul Black said he and board member Patricia Low heard a presentation on Wednesday from middle school Principal Deborah Brill and teachers asking for 11 more classrooms.

The proposal presented to the board from schools Superintendent Marla Stephenson called for eight classrooms plus a multipurpose room from GrowthPoint at a cost of $2.25 million, but Stephenson said in response to Black that adding more classrooms "can easily be done."

The board action did not authorize spending any funds. It gave district staff the green light to begin planning with GrowthPoint so that the district would be ready to go forward immediately, if and when the voters approve using Measure E funds, Stephenson said.

""That means we can hit the ground running," she said.

Stephenson said the district lacks the funds for building a new school, and she had presented the board with half a dozen options for portables.

She said she recommended the GrowthPoint portables because of their 50-year lifespan, potential to be certified LEED Platinum (the highest green building rating) and ability to accommodate a future second story. The second story could be used for relocating the district headquarters if funds for the move should become available in the future, Stephenson said.

Board agrees to ask voters to revise Measure E 

In a closely related action, the board voted 5-0 to ask voters next June for permission to use $3,414,943 in remaining revenues from Measure E for other capital improvements in the district, including the portables for the MacGregor High site. 

Measure E, passed by voters in 2008, authorized $10 million in bonds for the now completed Albany city pool, which is located at the high school and owned by the school district.

Stephenson told the board that she intends to consult with each school in the district before recommending what the ballot measure should say.

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