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Schools

Charter Oak Seeks Community Input for Facilities Master Plan

District considers a bond to implement plans for construction.

Charter Oak Unified will soon organize town hall meetings in preparation for a facilities master plan.

Charter Oak Unified recently approved a partnership with a firm to begin assessing the infrastructure of all district schools to draft a facilities master plan, one that the district will consider issuing a general obligation bond to fund construction.

Dougherty + Dougherty LLP, a firm specializing in environmentally sustainable facilities, will undertake the facilities master plan study to understand the infrastructure needs of every school site. The project will analyze all the things that are perceived to be needed, the scope of work, landscaping, accessibility, building codes, and costs incurred, officials said.

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The firm has a very short timeframe to compile information needed, with a deadline of March 30.

"With a master plan, you're looking toward the future," said Betsy Dougherty, of Dougherty + Dougherty. "It's trying to envision what is ahead of us. We really want to challenge one another to be thinking big."

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The master plan will encompass the entire district, all its facilities including the district office.

Team members will go to each school, communicate with the principals and ascertain their school's needs while other members of the committee will comb the site with cameras to thoroughly document the needs of the school.

The Charter Oak board was adamant that the community be involved in the discussion as much as possible.

"We really want to hear from our community. That is key. Their kids are going to school as a part of this community," said board member Bob Cruz.

"It wasn't just a matter of looking at facilities. They would be able to look at the facilities in relationship to the needs of people. Not just a building," said board President Joe Probst.

To get public involvement, town hall meetings will be scheduled in the future to bring in the public's voice into the fold.

Funding for the facilities master plan services will not be taken from the general fund, but from a Special Reserve Fund (Fund 40), money generated from lease revenue, according to Superintendent Mike Hendricks. The cost is not to exceed $75,000.

Funding to actually put shovels in the ground and execute the plan are another story.

The district has the option of issuing a general obligation bond, perhaps even some time this June, according to Probst.

In recent years, such bonds have passed overwhelmingly.

"The funding questions is what do the citizens of the community want to do and how quickly do they want to do it," Probst said.

If the community disapproves of a bond measure, then grants could be a way of funding the facilities construction, but, as Probst put it, "everyone is short on money these days."

Dougherty + Dougherty has built facilities for Cypress School District, prototypical projects for their infant, toddler, pre-K and extended day care programs and facilities for Culver City Unified School District, Inglewood Unified and the Cypress School District.

The firm will begin surveying schools in January to prepare for their March 30 deadline.

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