Costs for new school eat at budget cushion

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT COAST -- Not only will Newport Coast Elementary School not be

opening its doors in two weeks, as originally scheduled, it’s also

costing the district more than planned.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials are asking the school

board tonight to approve a change in plans with contractors that will

allot $96,931.56 from a cushion fund pay for miscellaneous items that

have arisen.

These changes will also push the completion date back by 26 days to

Oct. 4.

The school, which sits on the corner of Newport Coast Drive and Ridge

Park Road in Newport Beach, was scheduled to open Sept. 5 with 350

students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Those children will now

spend the first four months of school at Lincoln Elementary School in

Corona del Mar.

When students return from winter break Jan. 8, they willoccupy their

new campus. Although disappointed, Newport Coast parents said they

understand and are being patient about the delay.

The school board originally allotted $7.35 million of the $9-million

budget for the construction of the school.

If approved, the shift in funds will be the second of its kind -- and

a third is in the works, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent of

business services.

The first change shifted $89,274.04 from what the district calls the

contingency fund to pay for a variety of things, the most costly being

the removal of boulders that were encountered when the site was graded,

Fine said.

The second set of changes included items such as the additional cost

of curbs, debris removal, additional work on gas lines, adding gravel for

fire access and various other things.

“They are all normal kinds of things you can expect to encounter with

a project this size,” Fine said.

While the project is by no means over budget, if minor problems

continue to arise, it could exceed the spending limit.

With more than a month of construction remaining, the district has

used the majority of its $237,386 cushion.

The bright side, Fine said, is that the third change will include a

credit for masonry work.