Clarifying concerns about construction

Mark Buchanan

In June 2000, voters approved the Measure A bond issue to refurbish,

repair and update all 28 school sites in the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District. The Board of Education created a Citizens’ Oversight

Committee to oversee the implementation of Measure A. This 31-member

committee is comprised of representatives from 15 different

organizations and interested citizens from throughout Newport Beach

and Costa Mesa.

For nearly three years, the oversight committee has actively

assisted the district and McCarthy Builders with the planning and

prioritizing of the refurbishment work. We have closely monitored the

design, bidding, budgeting and construction processes. Overall, we

are extremely satisfied with the quality of personnel involved, the

progress they have made to date and the efforts they make to squeeze

the most improvement possible out of every dollar.

This project is a massive undertaking that will impact all 28

campuses throughout the district. During the course of construction,

20,000 students, 1,500 teachers and administrators and all their

related parents, visitors and neighbors will be affected. Although

the district and the builders have planned their work to minimize

disruptions, these campuses are more than 40 years old; it is

reasonable to expect that there will be surprises, difficulties and

frustrations. The end result will be better and safer learning

environments for our kids.

Refurbishment of the first group of elementary schools is wrapping

up now. Most of the work has upgraded infrastructure, such as

electrical, plumbing, roofs and access for the disabled. More

rewarding improvements, however, are the new classrooms and

administrative offices. Students will now enjoy bright, clean rooms

with windows and heaters that work. Restrooms are new. All rooms are

wired for computers and telecommunications.

The work has gone smoothly overall; however, there have been a few

frustrations. At Harbor View, dry rot in the roofs was more extensive

than expected. The additional repairs delayed the completion of the

summer work, causing school to start a week late. The window

manufacturer was late delivering window systems, which caused some

finished classrooms to operate briefly with boards in the windows.

The committee has watched how the district and McCarthy responded

to these challenges. They shifted crews to repair the roofs as

quickly as possible, modified the school calendar to make up the lost

days and assisted the school staff over weekends to open the campus.

They arranged to have murals painted on the boards and flew a

representative to the window factory to ensure that our windows were

shipped. They have helped teachers unpack boxes, attended parent

meetings and responded to all reasonable questions and concerns.

District officials and McCarthy personnel have consistently acted

above and beyond their duties to make this process as painless and

productive as possible.

Concerned parents have lodged a number of specific complaints.

Most have been constructive and helpful: Kaiser Elementary will have

new windows installed next summer because the existing windows cannot

be refurbished; construction phasing has been extended to provide

more flexibility for students and staff; the district is implementing

a landscaping program outside the scope of Measure A to complete each

campus. Where possible, the district and the builders have

accommodated parents and staff.

Some parents, unfortunately, have been less constructive. At

Kaiser, there has been talk of safety hazards and boycotts. First,

there has never been a safety hazard. No students would be allowed on

campus unless the fire safety systems met fire safety codes. When

combining old classrooms, refurbished classrooms, new portable

classrooms -- marked to stay at the school -- and old portable

classrooms that will be removed, it is impossible to tie them all

together with an integrated alarm system during construction.

Second, the classroom move has been rescheduled for this weekend.

Originally, classrooms were scheduled to relocate over the Dec. 13

weekend for two reasons: it was more efficient from a construction

standpoint and the expectation was that teachers would rather not

relocate during their holiday break.

Third, “punch list” items (that do not affect education, such as

paint touch-up) will be addressed after all phases of construction

are completed rather than at the completion of each phase. The work

schedule was designed this way to be as cost effective as possible.

These explanations have been given repeatedly to the concerned

parents. They may not like the explanations, but their unwillingness

to accept them does not create a “communications problem.” We believe

that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and McCarthy Builders

have responded appropriately to concerns raised by the Kaiser parents

and staff.

The Measure A refurbishment project is an enormous undertaking

that will effect us all. Frustrations are unavoidable. Due to funding

limitations, we will not see all the improvements and “bells and

whistles” that we would like. We are confident, though, that the

district and the builders will bring our infrastructure up to current

standards and create learning environments for our kids, and their

teachers, that meet the high standards of our community.

* MARK BUCHANAN is the chairman of the Citizens’ Oversight

Committee.