Construction, renovation efforts part of $60.8M referendum

Delaware State News

CAMDEN — Caesar Rodney School District residents only need to drive near the various elementary schools to see their tax dollars hard at work.

As part of CR’s successful $60.8 million referendum in May 2007, J. Ralph McIlvaine Early Childhood Center and the W. Reily Brown, W.B. Simpson and Allen Frear elementary schools will each receive multiple upgrades, some of which have been completed.

The following is a breakdown of each school’s projects including work completed, costs and the expected time frames for completion.

Because the district was being considered for all-day kindergarten at the start of the 2009-10 school year, J. Ralph McIlvaine Early Childhood Center in Magnolia had to have enough classroom space to accommodate all students, which could not be achieved in any of the district’s other buildings, said Ada Twitchell, director of buisness and finance for the district.

When CR received its first allotment of funds from the referendum in the fiscal year 2008 Bond Bill — $3.1 million in state funds and $776,500 from local funds — Ms. Twitchell said the district focused its attention on improvements for McIlvaine.

The state funds refer to the amount of money the General Assembly sets aside in its annual Bond Bill for a given school construction project. The local funds refer to the amount of money taxpayers agree to pay for the project. In most school projects the state funds 80 percent of the cost, while the local taxpayers fund 20 percent.

The money from the 2008 Bond Bill, along with the final portion the district received for the school in the fiscal year 2009 Bond Bill — $7.2 million from the state and $1.8 million from local funds — allowed CR to add 14 classrooms, a full cafeteria and kitchen, an office complex with a nurse’s office and a fully automated energy system that includes a geothermal HVAC.

Ms. Twitchell said the project took about 18 months to complete. The building has been in use by the district’s all-day kindergarten program since August.

Work is in full swing at W. Reily Brown Elementary School in Dover off of Webbs Lane.

Kevin Thompson, supervisor of facilities management for the district, said work began in July and will include a complete renovation of the building.

He said the site renovations include improved car and bus traffic patterns, which will make the site safer for student and pedestrian traffic.

Mr. Thompson said a stair tower will be added to a new bus entrance on the building’s west end , where buses will now drop off and pick up students.

Additionally, the main office will be relocated to the main entrance to improve building security and access control, and a connector will be added between the main building and a separate, former kindergarten, classroom building in the back.

Finally, Mr. Thompson said a complete security system will be added, the funding for which came from a $66,000 Community Oriented Policing Services grant done in partnership with the Dover Police Department.

He said all electrical, mechanical, technological, structural, finishes and HVAC systems will also be replaced and/or upgraded.

Mr. Thompson said much of the work that is being done will include upgrades that will have a minimal environmental impact, which will also mean cost savings for future operation. This includes a geothermal HVAC system, building automation control to maximize energy efficiency in HVAC and lighting, high efficiency plumbing fixtures and other improvements.

"The building has served us well for 40 years and the goal here is to prepare it for another 40 plus years of service," Mr. Thompson said.

The work, being done by jointly by Richard Y Johnson & Sons out of Lincoln, and Buck Simpers Architects & Associates, out of Wilmington, is expected to be done by August, when students, who are currently attending school at facilities on Dover Air Force Base, can return.

Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, CR’s superintendent, said Brown students are utilizing classrooms at Hap Arnold Elementary School, Welch Elementary School and Air Base Middle School.

"We were able to identify enough classrooms there to accommodate the students," he said.

Dr. Fitzgerald said the reason students have been shipped off site while the work is being done is because it is "so much better if you can vacate the school to allow construction work to take place.

"Anyone involved in construction will tell you that it is far better to try to renovate an empty building then try to stage it. That’s why we did it. We want to get the project done as quickly as we can."

He added that the district "had success" last year relocating students from McIlvaine to the base, which is why it decided to do the same for Brown students this year.

Dr. Fitzgerald said the district has also considered doing the same for students at W.B. Simpson and Allen Frear Elementary when those projects begin.

Ms. Twitchell said the district first received money for Brown in the fiscal year 2008 Bond Bill in the amount of $2.8 million from the state and a local portion of $709,100.

"That was enough to get started with the selection of the construction manager and it got us through the design process," she said.

Then in the FY 2009 Bond Bill, CR received $5.68 million from the state and $1.41 million from the local portion, followed by the remainder of the funding for the project in FY 2010 ($6.6 million, state; $1.65 million, local).

Ms. Twitchell said today’s economic environment, although it has hindered the amount of money the district has received from the state budget, has actually aided the district in its effort to upgrade some of the schools, particularly Brown.

She said when the district sends a bid request to various contractors for certain renovation projects, it includes a basic package of must-haves and a list of alternates, items that are not necessary, but would make a nice addition to the project.

Ms. Twitchell said when the district sent bid requests for McIlvaine, the bids were such that the district was able to fund the basic package and one alternate.

Bids for Brown, on the other hand, came back so that the district could fund the basic package and each one of its proposed alternates.

Work at W.B. Simpson Elementary School in Wyoming is not as far along in the construction process as Brown.

Ms. Twitchell said the district received some funding in the FY 2009 Bond Bill for Simpson ($650,000, state, $162,500, local), which was used to replace the school’s roof.

Mr. Thompson said the roof was completed over the summer and it has been "an immediate and positive improvement for our staff and students."

Then in the FY 2010 Bond Bill, Ms. Twitchell said the district was "pleasantly surprised" with the money it received for the Simpson project.

She said the district received $1.35 million from the state and $337,500 as part of the local portion, and is looking to stretch those funds to cover not only the construction manager selection process — which the district did during its September school board meeting, again choosing Richard Y. Johnson & Sons — but also the design phase of the project.

Mr. Thompson said the district recently completed the architectural information gathering phase for the project and the school board will choose between three firms during tonight’s meeting at 7 p.m. in the Postlethwait Middle School library.

"Once that happens, we can get started with the design phase, so by the time June comes, our goal is to be at the point where we have bids from the contractors back. If we can do that, and have our bids, we’ll be ‘shovel-ready’ so when they go to do the bond bill for FY 2011, it will be possible that they will consider funding Simpson," Ms. Twitchell said.

Mr. Thompson said the Simpson project is a whole scale renovation of the building systems, structure and site, — similar to the Brown project.

He added that the district plans to follow a similar format in completing the work as it did with Brown, the scope for which will be determined after the architectural selection process is completed.

The project at Allen Frear Elementary School, off Sorghum Mill Road in Camden-Wyoming, has yet to receive any funding.

Mr. Thompson said the scope of work expected there is similar to the work that is being done at Brown and proposed for Simpson.

He said the work’s start date, and the amount of time it will take to complete, will all depend on when and how much funding the district receives.