14
Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SCHOOLS: Some
projects underway
when school starts
Continued from page 1
School beyond the origi-
nal scope of the project to
repaint all of the classrooms
— “basically a facelift for the
whole interior of the school,”
according to project manager
Brett Hudson.
The SES bathrooms have
been revamped — and long-
undiscovered problems like
unconnected floor traps and
the like have been corrected.
While they are coming
in below budget on many
aspects of the projects, some
are stretching beyond the
schedule — mostly due to
delays in receiving materi-
als or permits. That is down
to a burst of growth in
construction.
“We’re seeing some pretty
good growth right now,” said
Sisters Superintendent Curt
Scholl.
That means some proj-
ects are carrying on into the
school year.
“We’re going to be install-
ing windows (at SES) while
kids are there,” Scholl said.
The new entryway at SES,
designed for enhanced secu-
rity, is near completion, but
doors and windows and hard-
ware are still being shipped to
Sisters. That means comple-
tion on that project is delayed
till about October 1 — a
month behind schedule.
Construction of a rede-
signed entryway at Sisters
High School — again for
security purposes — has also
been delayed.
“The doors are the huge
delay on that one,” Hudson
said. “We have elected not to
even disrupt that area till we
have the materials and then
break ground and knock it
out.”
That project is expected
to start on about September
4, and run into November.
Scholl notes that “we’re not
interrupting instruction” with
the entryway work.
New speakers are enroute
for the auditorium and the
lighting system will be up and
functioning for the start of the
school year.
One project that has been
under consideration with
the availability of additional
funds is the installation of a
turf field at Reed Stadium.
The price tag on that is esti-
mated at roughly $750,000.
That’s been tabled for now.
“We’ve delayed those dis-
cussions as a board,” Scholl
said. “(We) wanted to make
sure we’re going to execute
on everything we promised.”
Hudson notes that “most
of the work is behind the
walls at the high school.”
That includes getting a
problem-plagued and contro-
versial roof in decent condi-
tion. Repairs and improvised
design tweaks should make
the roof last through its origi-
nally designed lifespan.
“That was the goal — to
get us to the 20-year marker,”
said Scholl. “And (the
repairs) should do that.”
Hudson noted that there
are funds budgeted for further
repairs as needed.
Improvements at Sisters
Elementary School are more
visible. Other work that goes
beyond the original scope of
bond projects includes the
addition of a staff bathroom
(there had previously been
only one), a quadrupling of
the drop-off area at the school
and a replacement of play-
ground equipment instead of
simply repairing what existed.
All of that is funded
through cost savings.
Wilkins noted that the kids
at SES participated in the
selection of their playground
equipment, giving them a
sense of ownership.
All three men noted that
the district’s IT chief Todd
Pilch did a great deal of
work to reduce the cost of IT
improvements in the district
office and at the school build-
ings, resulting in considerable
savings.
The district has enjoyed
good financial fortune since
voters approved the $10.7
million bond in November
2014. The district caught
what Wilkins describes as
a “tailwind” in selling the
bonds, earning additional
money to the tune of nearly
$1 million from “favorable
market timing.”
That will allow the dis-
trict to establish a significant
reserve fund to take care of
maintenance going forward
so that it doesn’t run into the
deferred maintenance trap
that has plagued the schools
for many years.
The district is also the ben-
eficiary of a windfall from a
$4 million state matching
grant — one the school board
had pretty much given up on
during the bond campaign.
The grant pool was based on
need — which put Sisters at
the bottom of the list based
on demographics — and a
lottery for those that did not
qualify on a needs basis.
Fortunately for Sisters,
several districts that were
ahead of Sisters in the lottery
did not pass their bonds and
thus fell out of the running
for matching funds. Sisters
moved up the list — as did
other schools that succeeded
at the ballot box.
The Sisters School Board
approved tapping into the
grant funds to fund con-
struction of a new bus
Great hair
doesn’t happen
by chance.
It happens
by appointment.
PHOTO PROVIDED
School officials toured Sisters’ facilities to get a look at bond-funded
projects that have been recently completed or are still underway.
barn/shop near the high
school. The new facility will
serve a number of purposes:
improving maintenance facil-
ities for the district’s buses
and providing easy access
and shop facilities for high
school CTE (Career Technical
Education) students to work
and take classes in.
About $2.5 million of
those funds currently remain
unallocated. Wilkins said that
the district wants to initiate a
process involving stakehold-
ers from the schools to the
broader community to deter-
mine what projects those
funds should contribute to.
Sisters Middle School
hasn’t seen much work
— yet. Remodeling for
enhanced security at Sisters
Middle School is extensive
enough to be disruptive to
staff, so it will be undertaken
during Phase 3 in the summer
of 2018, when the impact can
be managed and minimized.
Hudson anticipates continued
savings and efficiency in that
phase.
“I’m really happy where
we’re heading with Phase 3,”
Hudson said. “I’m a lot more
optimistic in terms of the
building climate.”
He believes the work
planned there will “bring
(SMS) back to a 60-year
building.”
Scholl is anticipating look-
ing at eventually moving the
elementary school out to the
west end of town, along with
the middle and high school.
But the high school and mid-
dle school need to last for
decades —Hudson says they
will.
“Overall, they’ve got good
bones to ‘em,” he said.
A Home to Share Inc., a shared-living home
in the heart of Sisters, is looking for a
Community Development
Coordinator
View complete description at
www.ahometoshare.com
The mission of A Home to Share is to
provide a co-op home where adults
with and without intellectual disabilities
live together in a cooperative family
environment.
Tim & Ronnica Westcott
Jenny Duey
541-588-6611
220 W. Cascade Ave.
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