County school officials dug into the dirt today, breaking ground
for a new special education facility that will serve 30 to 40 of
Gilroy and Morgan Hill’s most difficult to educate students.
County school officials dug into the dirt today, breaking ground for a new special education facility that will serve 30 to 40 of Gilroy and Morgan Hill’s most difficult to educate students.
The $4-million facility will replace outdated portable classrooms on the Brownell Middle School campus, at the corner of Hanna and Third streets. Funding for the four-classroom building was made possible by money raised by Proposition 55, a measure California voters approved in 2004 to fund the construction and renovation of school facilities. Officials predict that the facility will be ready for students in the fall of 2009, although the architect predicted an even earlier completion date.
“We have to grovel each year for space,” said Joe Fimiani, interim Santa Clara County superintendent of schools. “Prop 55 turned that around. We are really looking forward to serving these students in an up-to-date facility. It will be great to place our staff and students in an environment so much more conducive to learning.”
Once the funding became available, county officials got the ball rolling, said Laurene Beto, county principal of special education.
“Yahoo! We can start!” she said, excited to see her students in a more permanent structure.
“The new building will give them a place of their own,” Beto said. “It will be uplifting for staff and students and make them feel very special and committed to their education. It will provide a more permanent and credible place for our students to learn.”
The students who will be attending the new facility are middle school aged kids who are challenged by mental illness. The Santa Clara County Office of Education serves about 2,300 special needs students this year. The students who attend the Brownell site will be housed in one of three classrooms with a fourth classroom available for private therapy, Fimiani said.
Jane Howard, board of education president, Mary-Anne Bosward, director of special education, and other county officials joined architect Lesley Miles, with Weston Miles Architects in Morgan Hill, and members of Blach Construction, the project’s contractor, to mark the official start of the project. With smiles across the board, they donned hard hats and began shoveling.
“We’re making a strong effort that the facilities are as modern as possible,” Howard said.*
