With anticipation of warmer weather and students
and teachers vacating for the summer, construction crews are moving into high
gear to make significant progress on a number of projects in the district’s
$576.5 M bond-funded building program. The district Bond Program team currently
has over 25 projects in progress.
Construction of replacement schools for Creekside, Douglass, Emerald
and a new PK-8
in Erie will begin this spring and
continue through next school year, with anticipated completion for August 2017.
Many phase 1 projects which began construction this past school year will be
finished for the start of school in August. Students and staff will return to
upgraded interiors and exteriors, renovated restrooms, enhanced security, innovative new learning spaces and, for some, newly air conditioned buildings. Very
important but less noticeable repair and maintenance work on building systems
and energy efficiency upgrades will take place in all schools. Five phase 2 schools
kicked off design work this spring and will likely move into construction early
in 2017.
Providing oversight for the entire bond program
is the Citizens’
Bond Oversight Committee. The group has
met regularly since May 2015 to review financial reports and project progress.
When necessary, the committee reviews and makes recommendations for changes to
project scopes of work and budgets. The committee’s meeting schedule and
minutes are posted on a dedicated
page on the Bond Program website. Meetings
are open to the public and there is an opportunity for public comment at each
meeting.
We recently launched a redesigned
website for the bond program to provide
families and community members with comprehensive information about how bond
funds are being invested to improve learning environments and extend the useful
life of buildings. The website can be accessed at bond.bvsd.org or from a link on BVSD’s homepage. The
website provides financial reports,
details about specific projects, information about renovations to support
sustainability and more. I encourage you
to visit it often. All of this is possible thanks to our very supportive and
generous community.
