$16 million bond would fix plumbing, electric, roofs and more at Dana Gray and high school

Fort Bragg High School drama students know there is always at least one bad actor in their room, a beast that growls and chatters while they practice, and if they are lucky, blows hot air at them.

Teachers have been known to use the antiquated aerial heater”s growling as part of the learning process in the room where all the performing arts go to learn.

The hanging hot air blower, the size and shape of a Brahma bull, has been in service since the grandparents of current students were in school. Inside the heater is what looks like a hamster cage which spews air and noise when it is switched on.

Fort Bragg Unified School District officials say they need Measure C to pass on June 3 with 55 percent of the vote to finally retire vintage heating, plumbing and electrical systems at two schools that date from the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.

The bulk of the money would actually go toward retiring portable, temporary classrooms that have been used for more than 20 years and whose wooden walls are now peeling. Flat, steel roofs on the modulars are losing the battle with the elements.

Measure C would allow the district to sell bonds to raise $16 million to upgrade Dana Gray Elementary and Fort Bragg High School. The June ballot initiative would impose a tax of about $22 per $100,000 in assessed value on all property within the district, which runs from Westport to Caspar. That will combine with the current annual tax from 2003”s Measure D, which can go as high as $50 per $100,000 in assessed value.

The current estimate is a total combined school bond tax rate following passage of Measure C of $67 per $100,000 in value, Superintendent Steve Lund said.

Measure D passed in 2003 with 66 percent of the vote. As happened with Measure D, Measure C will be paired with $13 million in state matching funds. Lund said those funds are not impacted by the current state budget crisis.

John Griffiths, head of the school district”s facilities and maintenance program, says the need for renovation goes way beyond the dangling heater.

Facilities tour

Griffiths provided this reporter a tour of the two facilities last week. Dana Gray, which dates from 1957, is clearly better designed than the high school, built in 1964.

Principal Nancy Doll said she likes the sunny old design of the campus but looks forward to needed upgrades she says will lift the spirits of students and teachers alike.

Six new classrooms are being built at Dana Gray, following the existing design of a central narrow hallway connecting broad classrooms, all fronted by tinted windows.

On one side, the windows look across a playground to square temporary classrooms. Those portables will be knocked down at the end of renovations.

One way the district plans to save money with Measure C over Measure D is that a temporary campus will not be built. At the middle school, students were moved into low quality portables while work was done on the main buildings. Those buildings were then all removed.

This time, no temporary campus will be built at either school. Classrooms will be moved in a circle. As one area is completed, classrooms will shift there, while renovations happen in stages.

Griffiths said the temporary campus cost more than $1 million at the middle school, moneys that will be saved this time around.

Those portable, modular classrooms spread out on the north side of Dana Gray and the south end of the high school campus are at the end of their 20-year lifespans The flat-roofed “trailer” buildings need siding and roof work, estimated at $60,000 each by the district.

But tearing into them is likely to mean much greater expenses due to the coast”s chilling, damp climate, Griffiths said. In fact, cost overrun surprises have a lot to do with the reason the schools are back asking for a second bond in just five years.

When the middle school”s walls were taken off, a nightmare of dryrot was found. So far that hasn”t happened at Dana Gray. The dryrot at the middle school cost $10.5 million to fix, which was a budget buster despite $3.5 million in state money. The $10.5 million doesn”t include even higher costs from the dryrot also found in historic Cotton Auditorium.

A big increase in materials costs also took the district by surprise. Griffiths said the cost of wood, steel and concrete has shot up far more than projected since 2004. That added an extra $6 million to the budget, he said.

Construction journals documented an unexpected doubling of concrete costs in 2004. Steel and wood both have accelerated unexpectedly by more than 10 percent per year, according to published reports in newspapers and construction journals.

On the tour with Griffiths, we didn”t look at the roofs, but could still see their condition in several places. A water stain on the high roof of the multipurpose room at Dana Gray is about twice the size of that hanging heater over in the high school. Griffiths said such leaks are patched as quickly as possible on the 51-year-old structure.

Of course, such past leaks may be signs of present big problems when opened. Griffiths says this time around the very best materials for keeping water out will be used, despite some extra cost.

One of the most common sights on our tour was duct tape, which seems to have dozens of uses, from carpet patches to bundling air pipes on a wood shop blower.

“There is a lot here that isn”t code,” said Griffiths.

Doors throughout the two buildings are too narrow for this large reporter to pass through without slowing down and turning sideways. Griffiths said the narrow doors are on a long list of structures that flunk the tests of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Some of the district”s penny pinching goes beyond comic to disconcerting. One such example is the office of the food service manager, Pilar Gray. Sitting on concrete blocks adjacent to the district office, there is no question that “trailer” is the correct word for this rusty behemoth, as it clearly outdates modern euphemisms such as “modular.” A rusty ball hitch awaits a pickup truck big enough to pull its iron frame. Griffith says the building has been used for a variety of purposes around the district, such as construction trailer during the 2000 Redwood School upgrade.

Such staff-used structures won”t be replaced by the bond funds, only those that are utilized by students.

Dryrot questions

“The district, through the ongoing work of staff, John Griffiths, our architect and contractors have always worked hard to ensure that all project funds are spent as necessary and managed thoughtfully,” Lund said.

Redwood was the first school to be renovated, a project that was not marred by terrifying amounts of dryrot. When asked what measures have been taken to prevent the high additional costs of dryrot, Griffiths and Superintendent Lund both said that can”t be done until the structures are opened up. Dryrot can weaken structural joints, especially between walls and a roof that doesn”t seal tight. Griffiths said that mold, which often accompanies dryrot, especially when leaks are left for a long period of time, was not a factor.

What about preparing better for increased costs?

Lund said the budget includes a 5 percent escalation of costs over the life of the project.

“You can”t predict the future of construction costs,” Lund said.

He added that it is unlikely that costs will go down if the project is delayed.

“From both an environmental and cost perspective, it makes sense to modernize and maintain existing facilities rather than have them deteriorate to the point of needing to be reconstructed,” Lund said.

So far, dryrot has not been found inside the walls at Dana Gray. Lund says construction standards were better at the last two schools than the middle school, which dated from the 1930s.

Although the prolonged dryrot disaster at the middle school frustrated many teaches, forced to teach in modular classrooms without running water. But the tune changed when the new school was opened. Numerous teachers and administrators said students became more calm and seemed much more focused on learning in those new, beautiful classrooms.

On the tour, especially at the high school, the design and equipment were so obviously dated it was hard to suppress a chuckle when Griffiths lined up for a picture next to the old oil bath radiator. The device heats up very slowly and with some odor.

The old oil furnace will be replaced with one that will save the district on utility bills as well as sending hot air just when needed.

Two structures at the high school, dilapidated batting cages and a covered area of the quad, were made decades ago from the cheapest possible materials such as clear fiberglass roofing that has become discolored and crazed.

Griffiths said it is his opinion that the message to students that worn out schools will be renovated is as important as the laundry list of health, safety and code renovations.

A list of critically-needed improvements compiled in a prioritized master plan includes removal of asbestos floor tiles, repair and certification of fire sprinkler systems, replacement of all plumbing fixtures, new underground and primary electrical utilities and most of both schools being inaccessible to the handicapped.

Galvanized pipes used in the plumbing are all badly corroded. It is no longer legal to use such materials. Griffiths said the code for schools is now copper pipe. The connection between the high school and the city sewer has also deteriorated and needs replacement.

An independent oversight committee has looked at how bond moneys have been spent since the passage of Measure D in 2003.

The bond funds are subject to not only the oversight committee but an annual special performance audit and a separate report on financial statements. Additionally, the district itself is audited annually, with the bond funds looked at in that report.

“In our opinion, Fort Bragg Unified School District, complied in all material respects, with the requirements for the year ended June 30, 2006,” said a report by the Chico audit form of Matson and Isom. There was no audit yet available for 2007, said Lund.

One last minute change is that the district isn”t going with a much-discussed plan to install solar technology. The district is still studying how that can be done, but rejected a proposal made at the last school board meeting.

The district took two surveys which showed local people knew of the conditions on local campuses and supported the levy by more than the amount needed to pass.

Some items were taken out of the plans, such as replacing tennis courts, which are unusable due to a big hump in the middle.

Lund says there really isn”t any debate that the repairs are needed.

“I haven”t met anyone who doesn”t think the high school is worn out and needs renovation,” said Lund.

With no questions being asked of the district and nobody showing up to speak at public meetings on the bond which have been held since November 2007, Lund says it comes down to a question of how important schools are to the voter.

“Communities that invest in themselves prosper more than those who do not,” Lund said.