The good news is that a revision of the district’s Facilities
Master Plan shows a $6 million savings. The bad news is there is
still a $14 million deficit.
Gilroy – The good news is that a revision of the district’s Facilities Master Plan shows a $6 million savings. The bad news is there is still a $14 million deficit.
The 25-year maintenance and construction plan includes repairing, upgrading, and building Gilroy Unified School District facilities and is funded primarily through Measure J – a $14 million bond passed in 2001 and Measure I – a $69 million bond passed in 2002. Funds also come from developer fees, state funding and grants.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Steve Brinkman, current projections push the cost of the plan upwards of $197.4 million. The estimated revenue for the plan is only $183.55 million – a gap of nearly $14 million.
In 2002, the Master Plan was estimated at $155 million, but that figure jumped to $177.85 million this March and to about $190 million in April.
“I think the district took on an enormous number of projects in a short period of time,” Brinkman told GUSD board members Thursday. “We need to do a better job in planning.”
Construction projects covered under the plan include the building of the new Eliot School and second high school, upgrading Gilroy High School facilities such as the football field, and relocating and rebuilding Las Animas Elementary School.
Low original estimates for the building of the Las Animas replacement school and an increase in construction costs for the new Christopher High School are expected to increase cost overruns $15.5 million, Brinkman said.
Overages are the result of design changes, an increase in the cost of building materials, and unrealistic project estimates.
Though the Facilities Plan funds are in the red, Brinkman said that by clustering the projects so close together, overages may offset inflation costs the district would have incurred if construction was delayed.
The estimated $6 million windfall is due to a switch from a one story design for the Las Animas replacement school to a two story plan.
Reusing the Eliot school blueprints for the Las Animas replacement site should save in both design and material costs, explained Superintendent Edwin Diaz.
Making up the $14 million deficit could come from a combination of factors, such as the sale of the old Las Animas site, relocation of the district offices, joint-use funding with the City for an aquatics/tennis complex at the new high school, and a reduction of certain Brownell Academy projects.
“They are a very realistic idea of what we could do,” Diaz said. “Everything is on the table to be discussed.”
District officials have through November when the budget is presented for approval to find a solution.
