The Willow Glen Resident

State bond could put $27 million into SJUSD renovations

Work set to begin on Glen schools later this month

By Michelle Ku

A year after local voters approved the $165 million bond measure for the San Jose Unified School District, district officials are hoping to get another $27 million from a statewide bond measure on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The bond measure would provide $9.2 million to California schools for facilities construction and renovation. The SJUSD would use its share of the state moneys to fund some of the lower-priority work outlined in its eight-year modernization master plan.

"[The statewide bond] will supplement the scope of the work we can do. It allows us to do more painting and carpeting and those kinds of things, whereas the local bond money only allows us to do the essential things," said Rod Sprecher, the SJUSD's director of general services.

"[School bond measures] have been successful in the last 10 years," Sprecher added. "The voting public has been very supportive of schools recently, as demonstrated by the support of our local bond. We're hoping that [the state bond] will be passed. It will be a big bonus for us."

The SJUSD put together its modernization master plan based on "needs" lists submitted by individual schools before the local bond passed last November. Priority items include fire-alarm systems, electrical upgrades and roofing, as well as the infrastructure to support the fire-alarm and intercom systems. Lower on the list are cosmetic repairs such as painting classrooms and replacing carpets or tiles.

The district began its modernization project this summer, upgrading the electrical systems at Pioneer High School and installing playground equipment at various elementary schools. Willow Glen and River Glen elementary schools are slated to have new playgrounds installed this month.

Booksin and Schallenberger are among the 17 schools slated to receive new playground equipment, but the district has yet to schedule the work.

Upgrades this summer also included replacing 64 portable units at campuses throughout the district. Portable classrooms were set up at Booksin and Schallenberger to accomodate students while modernization work is conducted at the schools. The portables will be removed once the work is completed.

The new portables placed at River Glen Elementary were not funded by the modernization bond. Instead, River Glen received portables due to the growth of the immersion program there. A restroom facility and a couple more classrooms were added to handle the additional grade levels, Sprecher said.

Construction work at Booksin and Schallenberger is scheduled to begin at the end of September. At Booksin, new heating and cooling systems will be installed in 12 classrooms, the electrical system will be upgraded, and handicapped-accessible ramps and railings will be constructed. Work at Schallenberger includes new heating and cooling systems in three buildings and the installation of a wheelchair lift.

Work at other Willow Glen schools is not scheduled to begin until May 1999, when the modernization of Willow Glen Middle School begins. Work is scheduled to begin at Willow Glen High School in May 2000 and be completed during the summer of 2002.

Broadway High School is still being evaluated in terms of what, if any, modernization work needs to be done.

In addition to the construction work being financed by the bond measure, swimming pools at several schools, including one at Willow Glen High School, underwent a complete renovation this summer. Each of the district's 13 pools is set to receive new plaster, decking, filtering and chlorination systems, pumps and lights.

The football fields at Willow Glen, Lincoln and San Jose high schools were resodded during the summer, and the stadium bleachers were stripped and repainted. Since money from the district's bond can be used only for improvements to buildings, Sprecher said, funding for this outdoor work came from the SJUSD's maintenance budget and from the high schools' athletic booster clubs.

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