Bond Oversight Committee and Board of Trustees Tour District Improvements

At the end of each summer, an annual meeting is conducted with the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee and the DUSD Board of Trustees. The purpose of this meeting is to review the general bond obligation rating, to discuss the overall project scopes and then to visually drop in on active construction projects. This event occurred on Monday. Senior Director of Facilities, Kim McNeely, led most of the discussion/updates.

The CBOC is chartered to oversee the utilization of Measure C. This bond measure was passed in 2004 and encompasses $184 Million of site improvement funds for the entire district. To date, approximately 85% of these funds have been expended to modernizing facilities, electrical, plumbing and HVAC improvements to many of the sites. A majority of the funds have been devoted to creating an almost complete makeover of Dublin High School. One of the centerpieces of the redevelopment is the new Performing Arts Center.

In addition to the CBOC and Board of Trustees, key district personnel and project members embarked on a physical tour of Murray Elementary, Wells Middle and Dublin High School. Some highlights:

Murray Elementary School: As previously reported by OneDublin.org, the project is moving smoothly and is on schedule. While still an active construction site, the new Kindergarten classrooms were accessible. The classroom cluster, located at the rear of the campus, closely resemble the reconfiguration that occurred at Frederiksen Elementary a few years ago. The classrooms are connected and allow access from left to right. A new EDCC portable has been installed to the left of the new classrooms which feature a “zero elevation” access – no need to walk stairs or a ramp. The secondary portion of the Murray project will include demolition of the current Kindergarten classrooms in order to construct a vastly larger ingress/egress system. This project will commence in the summer of 2014.

Wells Middle School: Building B is close to becoming a reality. After housing many ELA classrooms and the library in portables, this new structure will be a state of the art facility which will house 14 classrooms, a conference room and the new library. Installed in the building are leading edge HVAC systems that will allow staff to modify their specific environment, independent of the other classrooms on the same floor. Both staff and student restrooms were installed with “solatube” platforms. The end result is that there will be virtually no need to electronically light these rooms based upon receiving simple sunlight. Classroom design at Wells was replicated by the existing facilities at Dublin High. Part of the thinking was to have middle school students become comfortable and familiar with their surroundings as they transition to high school. In addition, a best practice that was applied at DHS was to capture and filter rain run-off to maintain the new landscaping.

Dublin High School: While there have been numerous improvements due to Measure C, one of the key components would be the completion of the new Performing Arts Center. While the original design/plan has gone through various iterations, the finalized project is clearly within view. During our last visit, the underground HVAC infrastructure was exposed. This system was designed to provide a high volume and low noise cooling system that would provide a comfortable environment without providing a distraction. In the months that have passed, the system has been covered with the cascading platform for seating for up to 507 attendees. Additionally, the video production, choral and band practice rooms look much closer to their final appearance.

All of the above mentioned improvements would not have been possible by the passage of Measure C almost a decade ago. Current and future students will enjoy the benefits of the wisdom expressed by district leadership back in 2004 and for many years to come.

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