BIS Begins Mapping Out Makeover

What does the future hold for Burlingame Intermediate School? About 20 parents and community members, along with district officials and architects, gathered Tuesday night for a discussion on the facilities master plan.

School officials invited parents, neighbors and anyone is any way associated with BIS to partake in the meeting and share their visions for the future.

“We want everyone to continue thinking,” said architect Richard Terrones of Dreiling Terrones Architecture, noting staff would continue taking ideas from the community beyond the Tuesday meeting. “We absolutely do not want to put an end to the process.”

Terrones asked that attendees write down their general thoughts and interactions on BIS, as well as those they thought their children might include. Parents wrote these observations—good and bad—on post-its, which they stuck on large posters for the architecture team to keep and consider.

“It can be as simple as…traffic is a problem and this is why,” Terrones said. “We want to start getting your thoughts down for how you interact with BIS.”

Parents touched upon everything from the sometimes confusing, sprawling nature of the campus, to cramped classrooms, to inconveniently placed lockers, to poor lighting. One big topic was the desire for the school to have a larger presence—a façade that made its location apparent and more connected to the community, which in term would bring students a greater sense of school pride and cohesion.

From there the conversation moved to what changes are currently in the works at BIS. Traditional classrooms in eight buildings will undergo modernization in a phased process, providing new lighting, carpet, electrical, sinks and accessibility upgrades.

Roadway realignment towards Osberg Field and an expanded drop-off area are also in the works to decrease congestion and improve safety for drivers and pedestrians. These changes could include architectural changes to the administration wing and gymnasium, but any timeline on the frontage of BIS is still uncertain.

As the discussion on BIS continues, Terrones said parents and officials must consider more space for students.

“One big elephant in the room is enrollment growth…how do we accommodate them?” Terrones said, noting an estimated enrollment of 1,200 by 2015 based on children already in the district. “By 2015 we’re going to be short by eight classrooms.”

Parents have vehemently rejected increased class sizes, leaving the options of increased portable classroom usage or building new classrooms.

The architects have started relooking at open space on campus.

“If you can build on acreage you already have that’s underutilized now, you’re ahead of the game,” Terrones said.

Parents were asked to again write on post-its their ideas for the future of BIS and ways to accommodate a growing student body. While many ideas were put forth, they were tempered by the reality that while designing, planning and permitting of the BIS master plan are funded by $48.3 Measure A, passed in 2007, funding for any actual construction has yet to be secured. A $56 million district bond measure on the November ballot would secure dollars needed to build new classrooms, or as Terrones summed it up:

“[The] actual construction is dependent on November.”

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