| Join Our List |
 |
Featured Designer Products
|
|
|
| Credits |
Thank you to
TDM Architects, Magnus Stark and LAUSD for this month's header,
John Leichty Middle School in Los Angeles.
| |
|
Download the PDF
Dear Joel,
"Scary times are ahead", is what I said to myself when the wife and kids decided we should go parasailing this summer while vacationing at the beach. For a guy that has "height fright" it is no small undertaking to launch 600 feet in the air like I was a human kite! Well, I did it (with my eyes open the entire time) and survived to tell about it.
So, as we begin 2009, perhaps scary times are ahead. I trust we will overcome our fears in order to accomplish great things. It will take all of us working together to see school conditions improved throughout the world.
Not afraid to try,
Joel K. Sims, AIA
Founder/ President
Schooldesigner
If there is anything we can do to help in promoting quality school design, please don't hesitate to contact us. And be sure to look at the bottom of the page for our latest request for photos! |
City Focus: Los Angeles
Here are just a handful of many lessons learned from Los Angeles Unified School District's largest school construction building program.
By Ellen Kollie
For 30 years, schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) fell into disrepair as the last bond measure to pass was in 1963 and the district saw an influx of 200,000 students in 20 years. As a result, students were bussed one to one-and-half hours to facilities that could accommodate them, trailers took up valuable playground space, and multi-track calendars were implemented to accommodate all the students but resulted in fewer days of education each year. "Our schools were so overcrowded, and there was such a poor environment for the students," says Guy Mehula, PE, LAUSD's Chief Facilities Director.
Things finally began to turn around in April 1997, when Proposition BB passed, which allocated $2.4 billion for facility modernization and additional classroom space. Since then, additional funding measures have passed, including Local Measure K and State Proposition 47 in November 2002, for $3.35 billion in local funding and $13.05 billion in state funding for school construction; Local Measure R and State Proposition 55 in March 2004, for $3.87 billion for new school construction, modernization and repair and $12.3 billion of matching funds for projects throughout the state; Local Measure Y in November 2005, for $3.985 billion for new school construction,  modernization and repair; and Proposition 1D in November 2006, in which voters approved $10.41 billion for the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006.
In the beginning, it took awhile for LAUSD administrators to develop a program and get the ball rolling. This is not surprising, since it had been so long since money had been available for facilities. Also not surprising, once administrators found their footing, the New School Construction Program snowballed.
Today, LAUSD is engaged in the largest school construction building program in its history. By the end of the year 2012, the program "will deliver approximately 165,000 two-semester classroom seats at an estimated cost of $12.6 billion," says the district's Website: www.laschools.org. "Included in that seat count are new K-12 seats, full-day kindergarten seats, continuation high school seats, and early education center seats."
More specifically, "the program is composed of 343 overall projects, which include 132 new schools, 65 additions, seven new early education centers and a variety of other projects," says the Website. "New schools and site expansions will require the acquisition of over 450 acres of land, most of which we have already acquired."
As of December 2007, 233 projects have been completed, including 69 new school projects and 58 addition projects; 79,336 seats have been delivered; 3,070 classrooms have been completed; 47 projects are under construction; 29 early education center expansions have been completed; 279 projects are designed or in design; 475 schools have achieved occupancy for full-day kindergarten; and approximately 1,500 parcels of land have been acquired. "Basically, we're completing a school a month for a decade," Mehula sums.
Obviously, a program of this magnitude is going to have a number of goals, and LAUSD's has three. One is to provide every student the opportunity to attend a two-semester neighborhood school. Another is to implement a full-day kindergarten program where applicable. A third is to eliminate involuntary bussing. "These goals are designed to build the capacity back into the neighborhood, so that parents and the community can participate in education," says Mehula.
Similarly, administrators are going to learn a lot from a program of this magnitude - lessons that are of value to other administrators embarking on both small and large construction programs. Fortunately, LAUSD administrators are happy to share with others the lessons they have learned, especially if it means making someone else's job a little easier. "It's only too easy for professionals who've driven capital improvement programs to discard the input of teachers and educational instruction leaders," says John Nichols, AIA, REFP, LEED AP, Pre-K through 12 Education Practice Leader, of the Ontario, Calif.-office of HMC Architects. HMC got involved early in LAUSD's New School Construction Program. "This is because, unfortunately, education's tangible, measurable bottom line is abstract to professionals on the business end," Nichols continues. "They really don't understand it, and it seems to be constantly changing. So, they say, 'let's put education on the sideline and keep moving forward,' despite huge downfalls in student performance. "The biggest lesson in this project, I think," Nichols sums, "is that, no matter how huge and daunting the design and construction challenges, always take time to put the education program first. Without that as a solid foundation, you're spending money that is not going to be effectively utilized." Similarly, LAUSD did a good job of creating standards. "Part of the point of standards is to create equity between schools," offers Gary Gidcumb, RA, Education Principal in Charge, of the Los Angeles office of HMC Architects. "However, if you have a good understanding of how a school needs to come together - if you have your baselines in place - you can release the  architect to build on those baselines. Education standards are especially good when you're working with multiple architects, as LAUSD has, because it allows architects to add a layer of innovation on top of a baseline."
Complementing standards, the district worked to develop designs that would stand the test of time. "We kept in some flexibility in order to be able to make future adjustments," Mehula says. "For example, we went to an exoskeleton type of building where interior walls won't encumber us from making facility changes as population or programming shifts." Finally, on the design side of the program, LAUSD worked diligently up front to ensure everything would be designed in a sustainable manner. "We even had our board mandate this," Mehula explains. "Everything is being done with LEED-equivalent design. It has really helped us make life-cycle decisions rather than first-cost decisions. We know we have to live with these buildings for a long time." On the development side, Nichols appreciates what he considers an interesting lesson. "LAUSD saw the value of using private real estate development-type people to lead not just the land acquisition process, which has been huge, but also the total development process," he notes.  "I think, in hindsight, it was a pretty smart move, in spite of the fact that there's a natural tension between real estate developers and designers. It's somewhat controversial, but I think it has served the district really well. This is a good lesson for administrators in urban areas." Click here for more on Edward
On the construction side, Gidcumb offers a valuable lesson: "LAUSD brought in professionals to manage the construction process - people who understand architectural design and the construction process." He notes that bringing in industry and architectural professionals as owners' representatives really allowed the district to understand and control the design process, as well as control costs.
"The last lesson," says Mehula, "is that the process to build a new school, at least here in California, is challenging. There are a lot of state agencies and other folks who can make it difficult. A fundamental piece of our success has been to develop a team of professionals who always find a way to get through the barriers. There is absolutely nothing in our process that can replace our group of dedicated professionals."
As LAUSD seeks to improve its schools through this enormous construction building program, its administrators are generous enough to share with others the lessons they've learned along the way. Everyone can celebrate with the district as it seeks to fulfill its ultimate objective: "to provide an avenue where all of our students can get the education they deserve and graduate," says Mehula.
|
|
|
