Big bang for the buck: Clovis USD has passed five school bond measures since 1986, leading to school building experiences that have run the gamut, garnering both design awards and construction lawsuits. Here, they share some lessons.

Recession or not, in the education business, as long as there are students, there must be schools. In California, where student enrollment continues to grow, and with new state rules that make the passage of school bonds less prohibitive than they were only a few years ago, the building of new schools in some parts of the state continues unabated.

Experts say the process of building new schools is not much different from the process used to build a new house. A district must decide what it wants, have plans drawn up, permits acquired and a contractor hired. But while the process may be similar, the stakes are higher, and the prospects for failure greater.

Districts building schools have many constituencies to consider and regulations to follow while overseeing construction projects grand in scope. Fortunately, growing districts that have been building schools for years have many lessons to share for those less accustomed to the process.

One such district resides in California's central San Joaquin Valley. Since 1986, Clovis Unified School District has passed five school bond measures--more than any other district in California--totaling $454 million. This money, when leveraged with matching state funds and developer fees, has generated $850 million for construction of capital facilities, allowing the district to build two new high schools, two middle schools and 16 elementary schools so far. The district expects to build another high school, middle school and four to five elementary schools in the next five years.

Clovis Unified's school building experiences have run the gamut, garnering both designer awards and construction lawsuits, while utilizing multiple architects and construction firms.

CUSD Assistant Superintendent of Facility Services Roger Oraze, the district administrator who has overseen the entire CUSD building program since 1991, has an important role in building Clovis' schools: "My main role is to bring together the wants and wishes of the education team and communicate them to the architects, while the director of construction and engineering oversees construction [in order] to ensure that the builders build what the architects design."

Oraze operates according to two guiding principles when planning schools. "We have multiple programs and multiple facility needs." The resulting challenge is "to try to meet the needs of as many people as possible without creating any significant barriers for anyone." He adds, "At the same time, you need to think beyond the current fads because you want the schools you build to serve students for the long term and not become dated."

What school communities want in new schools

While creating the right learning environment so teachers can teach and students can learn is a high priority when constructing schools, there are many other constituents to consider. Over the years, Oraze has listened carefully to all of them and knows what they want from their neighborhood schools:

* Site administrators are more interested in safety issues. They want good lines of sight and security cameras on their campus.

* Classroom teachers are interested in gaining as much space as possible, giving them the flexibility to apply different learning strategies and have increased access to technology and the Internet. High school teachers are less interested in large department offices than large classrooms. Teachers also want more cabinets and data outlets in their classrooms.

* School nurses today do so much more than their predecessors. The services they provide make them more akin to a health clinic, so they need larger spaces as well as a private office, because they also provide one-on-one counseling.

* Special education is currently stressing mainstreaming, so they want classrooms that can meet the needs of students with more severe disabilities and offer access to all school facilities.

* Physical education teachers are fully implementing Title IX, which makes it necessary to have enough facilities to allow for a full range of athletic and physical education activities for males as well as females.

* Custodians are interested in the ease of cleaning a campus on a daily basis, so their focus is on materials such as floor coverings and surfaces. They are also concerned with issues like how a school deals with trash and how it can reduce waste. Budget cutbacks have resulted in less manpower, so custodians need to have systems and equipment that will allow them to be as efficient as possible and maintain the same level of cleanliness with fewer personnel. Custodians are also the supply distributors at a school site, so they have a need for more storage space.

* Community members want to use their schools as community centers when school is not in session, so a greater focus is needed on the development of gymnasiums, libraries, parking lots, multipurpose rooms and playgrounds. At the same time, districts will want to design schools for public access without exposing facilities to excessive wear and tear, vandalism and overuse.

New school innovations

If the new schools being built are any indication, Roger Oraze has listened well to these various constituents. New schools are different from older versions in many ways. Administrative offices that used to be clustered together inside buildings are now strategically located around a campus, with large windows to provide a good, one-way view of the campus.

Classrooms are larger and have built-in cabinetry wired for ceiling projectors and the Internet. Support staff spaces are more generous in size. School nurse facilities have more space, including private offices and restrooms. Classrooms for special needs students have occupational therapy spaces, changing tables and other features designed to address their concerns.

School athletic facilities typically include two gymnasiums, especially at most large schools. Painted wall surfaces are replaced with vinyl tack, which provides ease in posting student work as well as cleaning. Custodians will find large trash compacters at middle and high school sites and mini-warehouse space to better organize supplies.

Perhaps the biggest innovation in facility design Clovis Unified has pursued was the creation of first one--and then a second--large educational center that includes a high school, middle school and elementary school all positioned on a common site.

The Buchanan Educational Center was the first attempt with this design. The 160-acre site, which opened in 1991, includes Alta Sierra Intermediate School (1991), which dominates the northwest corner of the property, and Buchanan High School (1993), which sits next to it on the northeast corner. The entrance to Garfield Elementary (1994) is on the southwest corner, and an 8,500-seat stadium occupies the southeast corner. The center portion of the complex includes playing fields, tennis courts and swim facilities.

The centralization provides many advantages. The complex is equipped with large maintenance equipment and a large trash compactor, while main electrical and water utility service conduits provide major cost savings to the district. Custodian's duties are more efficient because they are centralized, as are bus routes and food services.

Meanwhile, the concentration of playing fields provides many community opportunities. The five softball fields in the center of the complex, along with three others on the elementary site, make the education complex the ideal venue for groups like the Amateur Softball Association of America, which will hold a national softball tournament on the site this summer.

Educators on the site like the configuration as well. Although it took time for all the schools to come on line and for the teachers to get used to the new educational possibilities, the educational complex design has proven to offer a number of great educational advantages.

As one Buchanan High School administrator said, "We have one program in particular--our music program--that is completely integrated between the two schools, sharing teachers, students and space. We could not do this if we were not in such close proximity. Because of this our program is very strong and we can offer a continuity that other students don't get at sister schools in the district.

"It also is very helpful when we have a need for a larger facility. For instance, recently we had a wrestling tournament, a basketball tournament and a dance. Because of the proximity, the use of the middle school enabled us to offer our kids all these experiences on one weekend, because we utilized the other school's multipurpose room and gym. We are also able to share teachers, which is especially helpful in the elective areas and physical education."

A new twist

The Garfield Elementary principal said, "One of the biggest advantages [of the educational center design] is the cross-grade-level tutoring. We utilize the middle and high school for math and reading buddies, and leadership students for a buddy system. I think the parents would say that all three schools on one site allows them to feel they know the complex from day one, and it ties in a loyalty to the high school right away as well."

The success of the Buchanan complex has spawned a second complex. The Ronald Regan Educational Complex, opened in 1999, was also designed for three schools. This time, Clovis East High School (2000) and Reyburn Intermediate School (1999) share a common library located between the two schools on the north side of the campus.

The high school facility, like the Buchanan Educational Center, is scallop-shaped. The large, two-story academic building runs east to west along its northern perimeter, with the other buildings radiating in a fan-like fashion to the south, around a central amphitheatre. This design allows the academic building, with its interior corridors and limited entrances, to be easily secured while the rest of the campus is more accessible to the community.

In a new twist to the multiple school complex design, the California Community College system has agreed to build a campus across the street from the third education center slated to open in 2006-2007, opening the door to further shared-use facility options.

Building and constructing

Whether building new schools or remodeling old ones, the entire process starts with a master plan. Edwin S. Darden Associates Inc., the principle architects used by CUSD for more than 30 years, lauds Clovis Unified's master plan process as a critical first step and foundation for its comprehensive facility-planning efforts. The master plan process includes forecasting growth and setting capacity limits for each site in order to protect the integrity of each school community.

By becoming familiar with the growth pattern for CUSD, the Darden firm and facility practitioners have been able to effectively plan and deliver appropriate school facilities; limiting, for example, the need for unsightly and space-hogging portable classroom buildings.

The second step is for districts to decide what facilities or accommodations it wants for the schools it builds. Oraze said, "If you absolutely have to have" certain things, "get those down on paper so you can provide the architect with direction."

While Clovis schools may use similar models, no two schools are the same. Modifying school plans is a constant task. If Oraze had one piece of advice to offer other districts, he said it would be, "Don't assume that you can take an existing set of plans and easily build the same school on a different school site. Every site is unique in terms of utilities and grades [lay of the land], and there are also new laws and program requirements.

"Las Vegas built 60 schools in three years, and in that case I would have built the same schools, but if you have the luxury to build according to a sequential building plan, then make changes."

For example, Oraze said, "The previous state building program had a specific dollar funding [based on] square-footage requirements, while the new rules don't. This means that while in the past we could not afford to build interior corridors in elementary schools because of cost, it is now possible and new schools will have this because of the program advantages and student comfort advantages."

Design options continue to change and so should school plans.

The third step is to select an architect who has a proven track record working with the many government agencies relied upon for approvals. Architects who understand the design options possible can step up to the many challenges of designing what school districts want.

Oraze said architects are "responsible for taking and implementing the educational plan in an aesthetically pleasing and cost-efficient manner."

Darden and Associates call it a partnership, saying there are three essential components in any school construction project: design, execution and visual impact. It is up to the district to determine what they want and how to spend their money, while the architects help the district to get the "biggest bang for the buck." The architects facilitate and assist with all parts of this process, as well as giving much attention to the aesthetic component.

Architect Ed Darden Jr. said that schools are "culturally contributing," in that they "make a continual statement to the community about what's important, what we value, and what we take pride in." Maximizing the benefits to the community cannot be underestimated, even though cost is always an issue. Darden and his firm seem to have found a successful balance.

Every two years the San Joaquin chapter of the American Institute of Architects presents design awards for school construction based on two key criteria--design and execution. The criteria measure exemplary professional merit based on the quality of materials used, benefits of longevity, and function following form. Of the 29 awards Darden's firm has earned since 1962, 13 are for Clovis Unified school designs.

The fourth step in building a school after the design is completed is the construction process. At this point, districts can go through the process of hiring a construction company, or for larger projects, a construction manager. This is one area where the law has again changed.

Construction managers

In the past, districts would have to bid an entire project and then choose the general contractor to oversee the construction. With this process, general contractors were responsible for hiring their own subcontractors. In worst-case scenarios, they could hire fly-by-night folks and then not pay them, leaving a district with shoddy workmanship and lawsuits. Even if all went smoothly, the district was still far removed from the actual subcontractor doing the work at the school site.

Current law allows districts to hire a construction manager instead of a general contractor. A construction manager serves as the district's agent in overseeing the construction. The district is then allowed to bid out different portions of the job directly to subcontractors, who sign contracts with the district. This means subcontractors are directly responsible to the district (and/or the construction manager agent), which allows for better communication and accountability between all parties

Jerry Walker, CUSD director of construction and engineering services and an experienced former CUSD board member and construction company owner, oversees all construction projects in the district. Yet for large projects, the district will still hire a construction manager rather than a general contractor to do the job. The decision to hire a construction manager or go with the conventional general contractor should be arrived at jointly by the district and the architect.

The fifth step is to take occupancy and make sure everything starts up well. Darden speaks of the importance of bringing school principals on the sites early, so they can understand the benefits of the architectural design and facilities operations.

Oraze confesses that when he first began working on school building projects, the tradition was to complete schools around Labor Day, which did not give site administrators any time to get a new school off the ground. Now he plans projects, and controls the building process, so projects finish around June 1 (or sooner). A site principal has an entire summer to meet with parent clubs and the school community and enhance the opening of school.

The last step, Oraze says, is to take a school planning team back to a site three to six months after the project ends to talk to site personnel to determine what is working and what is not. Oraze said the post-occupancy evaluation process sometimes deals with "nothing more than the little things, like where the soap dispenser or light switch is placed. But this is what we need to know as we modify plans for the next school."

School construction can be a worrisome enterprise. Schools of today are not like the simple schoolhouses of long ago. Furthermore, most school administrators come to their jobs via the teaching ranks and have little background in school construction. Fortunately, schools are still built one brick at a time, and when districts know how to plan and execute the process, they can create long-lasting and powerful instruments of education.

James Bushman is an educational researcher and learning director at Clovis High School (JamesBushman@ clovisusd.k12.ca.us). Ken C. Testa is a learning director at Clovis High School, as well as president of the Fresno County Charter ACSA Board ([e-mail]).