Building for Student Success

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.