New Schools, New School Year

As the approximately 2,700 Burlingame School District students arrived for their first day of class Aug. 25, they may have noticed changes beyond new backpacks and books.

With classroom modernization projects at Washington Elementary and Roosevelt Elementary and new building construction at Lincoln Elementary and McKinley Elementary, things around campuses looked different, although the school day routine remained the same.

"The start of school has been very smooth," said Liz Gindraux, school board president.

The plan is to complete classroom modernization at each of the six district sites, although the project is being carried out in phases. While modernization is occurring at Washington and Roosevelt, new buildings are being erected at Lincoln and McKinley. Modernization will occur once these new facilities are complete, which is expected to be by the start of next school year. Eventually, similar projects will be carried out at Franklin Elementary and Burlingame Intermediate School, as well.

The construction and modernization is funded by the $48.3 million Measure A bond that was approved in 2007 for school facility renovation and improvement.

"We went through all the schools to determine what needed to be updated—what was necessary, what was nice to have and what was maybe for another time," Gindraux said. "Most of the schools haven't really been upgraded for 15 to 20 years."

Parents, teachers and administrators all had input in the project, Gindraux said. Along with the school board, they worked together to create a standardization of all district classrooms.

"No matter what classroom you were in, you'd be able to find the same tools," she said.

Executing this standardization is mostly a behind-the-scenes project, said Robert Clark, assistant superintendent and chief business official. Modernizing involves intricate electrical wiring to improve data connections and upgrade the fire alarm systems.

In addition, new flooring, paint, cabinets and sinks will be installed in each classroom.

"Every classroom, every specialist room, every hallway and even the office suites to a certain extent will get done," Clark said.

Although modernization begins at Roosevelt and Washington Sept. 27, class is already taking place within portable facilities. Four vacated classrooms at each school will be the first to receive modernization treatment. Once the first four are complete, new classes will rotate into the portables while their rooms receive makeovers.

"They're good spaces to be in," said Clark. "[Then] they'll eventually go back to their brand new classrooms."

Clark said they hope to have both of these schools done by summer of 2011. Construction on Lincoln and McKinley is expected to finish at the same time. Once the new buildings are done at these sites, they will be used in place of portable units to house classes during modernization.

 The contractors plan to take on many elements of the project at once over next summer, but only if they are assured to be finished by school's start.

"We can't not have rooms ready for the first day of school," Clark said.

Although not officially undergoing modernization yet, Franklin is having some work done to its classrooms, and computer labs are being turned into classrooms at Burlingame Intermediate School.

Modernizing the schools all at once was offset for financial reasons after the district purchased the previous site of the Hoover school this summer, also using Measure A funds.  The property was most recently owned by Shinnyo-en, a Buddhist organization.

"I wouldn't use the term delayed," Gindraux said, who explained there are other reasons not all the schools are on the same timeline. She said without the purchase of the Hoover school, McKinley and Lincoln probably could have been modernized at the same time as Washington and Roosevelt, but with construction already underway, this would have been disruptive to the school year.

Additionally, the board is waiting to get state matching funds for some of the schools before moving full speed ahead with the project. Franklin and Burlingame Intermediate are ineligible for these funds due to previous use, thereby putting them last in line for renovation.

While the Hoover purchase jumbled some of the initial modernization planning, Gindraux said she anticipates they will be back on schedule soon, and emphasized the necessity of more classroom space as enrollment in the district rises. Between the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, enrollment increased by 89 students, and continues to rise.

"We're constantly amazed at the enrollment numbers," Gindraux said. "Space [is] definitely an issue right now."

For now, some students and teachers will wait their turn for renovation while others rotate in and out of portable units and new buildings until modernization of all six schools is complete and there are enough rooms in the district for all the children.