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Wednesday's Internet Edition, October 08, 2008.
Citizens’ Independent Oversight Bond Committee
By Len Reid/Reynoso
Special to the Herald
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It has been awhile since the oversight committee has provided a report to the community on the status of Liberty Ranch High School building project. This is due to the fact that several issues were happening at the same time, and the committee took the time it needed to better understand what was transpiring.
The major changes deal with the 1D funds (special state funds allocated to advance career technical education – vocational education – for both Health and Agriculture Academies, and the funding for the extra building, not in the original plans (we call Phase II). This was further complicated by continually changes by the state regarding the state funding of schools.
The committee’s desire is to only count on funds that we have a high probability of obtaining, not more speculative funding sources. As it has been from the beginning, the committee is committed to doing what we can to have the new high school on time and on budget.
From all the information the committee has been provided, or has acquired, we believe the current situation at Liberty Ranch High School is cautiously positive.
We are still recommending no borrowing to complete this project.
We are identifying sources of funding for Liberty Ranch High School in three parts: Phase I, 1D funds, and Phase II. Phase I is the original plan for which we have a maximum construction cost guarantee with F&H Construction; 1D funds are funds used to support vocational educational. Phase II funds are funds that the district has acquired to build an additional building, which shall be opened in conjunction with Phase I opening – school year 2009-2010.
It has been reported that F&H Construction is ahead of schedule and doing a great job. The committee thanks F&H for its hard work and all of its employees for their diligent efforts.
With all the efforts from the district staff, we are getting a high school campus with one additional classroom building than was first proposed. This is because the district has been able to use 1D funds for the Health and Agricultural Academies to leverage into another building (Phase II). This also deals with the complicated funding formulas, which the state uses. Bottom line is that we have an extra building.
After adding extra facilities and adding about seven million in value to the Liberty Ranch High School project, we still need a nearly one million dollar reduction in expenditures, or increased revenues, to balance the books.
The committee is determined that the overall project comes in at as close to zero as possible. Although this shortage is large, it is only 1.6 percent of the budget. So, where are these funds to come from? Although we have been presented with numerous scenarios, which will zero this shortage out, we have concentrated on three.
First, some additional funding may be available. The district is seeking additional grants and other sources of state funding. Although these additional funding sources have helped greatly in the past, it is an issue that we do not have much control over, beyond filing the applications and following through, which the district is doing. As such, we do not count on these funds at this time.
Second, in the different budgets, we still have just over one million dollars in contingencies. This amount is enough to cover the shortfall – if no other unforeseen costs arise. Unforeseen costs could include changes in the expenditures due to the city of Galt, Sacramento County or the State of California. Another unforeseen cost may be in construction. However, the further we are in construction, the less likely that unforeseen construction costs occur. Nonetheless, our contingency fund is small, and we do not wish to depend on it.
Third, making cuts on the buildings. This is the area where we are concentrating most of our efforts to maximize benefits to the students while controlling costs. We expect estimates shortly from the contractors for the new buildings. Once we have these estimates, we shall work on reducing the shortage. This is expected to be the subject of the ext couple of meetings.
We should note that all groups are working together, district folks (including health, agriculture and other departments) and various others to make this project work for this community.
We do have some concerns on the athletic fields. Nonetheless, core facilities are expected to be in place to provide an athletic program. Currently, the school will have the facilities for basketball, wrestling, tennis, handball, and gymnastics. Liberty Ranch will not have swimming, although this may be offered through Galt High School.
We also have limited funds for the larger fields. We plan to have the infrastructure for football, soccer, softball and baseball fields. We appear to have the funds to have facilities for baseball and softball (dugout, fencing, lighting and scoreboard).
For soccer and football, we seem to have enough funds for the soccer goals, goal post, scoreboard and lighting. Seating is an issue for all fields, and we expect to be reviewing options over the next few months. For soccer and football, these may be primarily practice fields. We have also suggested that any available resources go into improvements at Warrior Stadium so that the district can have at least one first-rate facility.
We are also concerned regarding the lack of field space at Liberty Ranch. Hopefully, the district shall continue to look at option to increase the available acreage at Liberty Ranch.
Overall, the project is going well. We are still slightly over budget and are working to correct that issue. Liberty Ranch is currently ahead of schedule and is expected to be ready for students in the 2009-2010 school year.
We look forward to continuing to service this community as a committee.
Len Reid/Reynoso serves as chairman of the oversight committee.
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