While board President Kristin Tassin said she believes the transportation center “cannot wait,” other trustees voiced concern about depleting the bond contingency fund, which will drop to under $17 million after high-urgency projects.
“$16.9 million is much less than we’ve had in the past [in contingency funds],” Chief Financial Officer Bryan Guinn said. “Although this is a tight number, I think that we feel reasonably confident that this will be where the numbers ultimately land.”
By the numbers
As of the June 29, Guinn said the $1.26 billion 2023 bond program has a $63.6 million contingency fund after the board approved $400,000 to assess the condition of existing facilities for long-term boundary planning and potential land sales as well as$1.54 million on major maintenance, including chiller and boiler replacements.
Assessing the need
Trustee Angie Hanan said with the Madden repairs and SPED transportation center under consideration, along with ongoing projects like the aquatic facility, pressure is mounting on the remaining budget to complete the proposed 2023 bond projects.
“I’m really concerned, where we are now with the bond,” Hanan said. “We could possibly have to take some more projects off the list.”
Tassin argued that the proposed special education transportation center, which was revived after its initial deferral in November, would improve service for students with special needs by streamlining operations that have been “a disaster” in the past, due to the breakdown in communication across special education and transportation departments.
Deputy Superintendent of Operations Kathleen Brown said the proposed Special Education Transportation Center would consolidate staff currently spread across three sites—Julie Rivers, Hodges Bend and Lake Olympia—into one centralized location at Julie Rivers.
While no new staff would be added, Brown said the move is intended to improve efficiency and communication by bringing routing, dispatch and supervisory teams under one roof.
“This is an opportunity for us to take both of those administrative roles and put them under one roof and make sure that we are first and foremost protecting those kids that need protecting,” Tasssin said.
Another thing
Brown said the newly proposed funding is intended to cover construction only and that estimated costs for relocating students during the repair process—an estimated $2.5 million—will also need to be covered by the remaining contingency pool.
The relocation costs will include student transportation, portable classrooms and temporary accommodations while work is underway.
Next steps
Board members will vote to approve the use of $20.4 million in bond contingency towards Madden Elementary repairs and special education transportation center at the July 28 board meeting, according to board documents.
