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Uploaded: Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 1:55 PM
Las Lomitas School District examines two-story option
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By Barbara Wood
Special to the Almanac
Flexible-use two-story classrooms clustered around outdoor spaces could be used to reduce the squeeze put on the Las Lomitas Elementary School District by a 40 percent growth in the number of students during the last decade, if a plan previewed for the district's board on Dec. 12 is adopted.
The two-school district, for children in kindergarten through eighth-grade, needs to approve a facilities master plan as the first step in asking voters to consider a bond measure to finance construction.
"This is the beginning of a very, very long process," Superintendent Lisa Cesario told the board.
The conceptual plans presented to the board show that some current classrooms and other buildings would remain, while new two-story classrooms and multi-use rooms would be built on both campuses and all portable classrooms would be removed.
Consultants on the plan include Blach Construction, Architects of Achievement and WRNS Studio Architects.
In earlier meetings with the community and with teachers at Las Lomitas (K-3) and La Entrada (4-8) schools, all three groups chose more classroom space, innovations for 21st century learning, and green space as their top three priorities in the facilities plan.
The input resulted in conceptual plans, which, in addition to making permanent classrooms for all those new students, respond to changes that have taken place in education and include flexibility to meet future needs. Victoria Bergsagel from Architects of Achievement said planners looked at research about how children learn, how teachers are energized, and how to plan for ever-changing technology, as well as what is a "joyful and durable space."
More practical considerations include plenty of parking and sensitivity to neighbors.
Proposals that could be considered when the buildings are actually designed could include, according to Pauline Souza of WRNS Studio Architects, flexible workspaces with walls that move and can be written on; furniture that moves; walls that open to let spaces be either outdoor or indoor and other "places that support learning and curiosity."
Once a facilities plan is approved, the board would next vote to issue a bond and decide whether to go for a November 2013 or June 2014 vote. Only once a bond measure is approved would the actual plans for the schools be designed, and construction could probably not start, at the earliest, until the summer of 2015, Superintendent Cesario said.
She said that construction would probably have to be done in phases because fulfilling all of the district's desires would exceed the amount of a bond measure that the district could legally submit to voters. A study session on the facilities master plan is scheduled for Jan. 9, and will include discussion of phasing of construction and priorities, she said.
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Posted by Riff Wilkins, a resident of the Atherton: West Atherton neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2012 at 7:21 am I am surprised that nowhere in this article is any mention of the fact that the Las Lomitas School district owns two other schools -- the old La Loma and Ladera schools. It appears very short- sighted that the District would lease out these facilities and then go back to tax payers to pick up the cost of construction bonds.
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Posted by Peter Carpenter, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2012 at 9:46 am
Peter Carpenter is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online "construction would probably have to be done in phases because fulfilling all of the district's desires would exceed the amount of a bond measure that the district could legally submit to voters. "
I predict that the voters have finally become totally fed up with the argument that any school bond should be approved because it is essential to the education of our children - any to begin with the plan to do it in two or more phases because the amount needed would exceed the amount of a bond measure that the district could legally submit to voters is a real slap in the face of the taxpayers.
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Posted by Garrett, a resident of another community, on Dec 23, 2012 at 1:35 pm Due to recent events, planning and building design should also include securing our schools and the grounds around them.
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Posted by How about some facts..., a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Dec 24, 2012 at 10:44 am Enrollment has grown 40 percent since the last bonds were approved.
Yes the district does own two other schools. The District looked into taking back the Ladera site and determined that the cost to rebuild the school to current DSA standards would be approximately $50 million...which would require a bond. The Ladera neighborhood is not large enough to fill the school site and students would have to be bused from Menlo Park to Ladera to bring the school to capacity. This would be a much larger and more expensive bussing expense than moving the Ladera residents to the existing schools which is the current procedure.
The La Loma site, which currently houses the Phillips Brooks School, is built to DSA standards, but the classrooms are too small to accommodate the district's current class size, and a bond would need to be floated to remodel and rebuild the classrooms. The estimated cost to operate the La Loma site, once remodeled, would be over $2 million per year. Additional schools require additional administrative staffing duplicating the admin currently in place...a waste of taxpayer money.
The district felt that since construction on any of the sites would require a bond, it made sense to build on the two sites currently used by the district, Las Lomitas, and La Entrada, while maintaining the district rent from the other properties. Note that Menlo Park School District has parcel taxes approaching $900 per parcel, while Las Lomitas only has one $311 parcel tax.
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Posted by Questions Remain, a member of the Las Lomitas School community, on Dec 24, 2012 at 11:26 am It's great to accomodate so many additional students, but what kind of gridlock are you inviting jamming so many trips into such a small area?
What can be done to mitigate the impact?
I think this is one benefit of using alternative sites, such as Ladera or even the La Loma school facility.
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