Construction project at Yosemite High School continues

 

 — Earlene Ward

This current music/drama building will be turned into a 400-seat performing arts center after renovation work is completed. The “no frills” facility will cost between $750,000 and $850,000.

 

by Earlene Ward - Yosemite High School

The construction project at Yosemite High School, funded by a bond measure passed by voters in 1998, is continuing at the site.

“We are extremely pleased with the project and the many positive changes we have been able to make at the site,” says Yosemite Joint Union High School District Superintendent Bill McCabe.

During the summer, the older parking lots were re-paved, fencing was added to more of the campus, excavation was done for baseball fields, and preliminary work was started for a music classroom building. An additional portable classroom was added at the Evergreen High School campus.

A citizen committee is working with the district to raise funds to put in a community swimming pool complex at the high school.

“We have raised about half of the funds needed to complete the pool complex,” Mr. McCabe says. “We will be seeking donations and grants to finish the project.” He says the pool would be available to the public during non-school hours.

Mr. McCabe says the goal is to break ground on the $2.4 million project in June 2003. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the project can send a check to El Capitan Foundation Swimming Pool Fund, Post Office Box 2221, Oakhurst 93644.

 

Music building, roofs

The 60-day bid process has begun for the two-room music classroom building. Mr. Mc­Cabe expects construction to start in February or March with the building ready for students in the fall of 2003.

When the new classroom building is complete, work will start to renovate the current music/drama classroom building.

This building will be turned into a 400-seat performing arts center. Mr. McCabe says the “no frills” facility will cost between $750,000 and $850,000.

With help from a Federal Renovation Grant, the school will replace the original, 25-year-old roofs on the buildings.

Mr. McCabe says they will be replacing the wooden-shake roofs with fire-resistant materials.

An additional cost for the roof replacements will be removal of the asbestos in the original roofs. “This will add about $15,000 to each building we re-roof,” Mr. McCabe says.

District staff is searching for grant funds that may help with this added expense. Funds for the re-roofing project will come from developer fees, deferred maintenance funds and grants.

 

Bond election

Mr. McCabe is anxiously awaiting the results of the state bond election in November. When a state bond is passed, the district will be in line to receive $1 million in state matching funds for the bond project.

“When we passed our $11.76 million bond in 1998, the state was matching 100 percent, therefore we promised the voters a $23 million project.

However, that changed within a few months to a 50 percent match and then changed again to a priority point system,” Mr. McCabe explains.

“Under the priority point system, we will not receive any more matching funds from the state unless a state bond passes.

“We are so low on the priority point list that money will not be available without a state bond,” he says.

He adds that the Los Angeles Unified School District receives the majority of the state funds now under the point system.

To date, YHS has received $3.5 million from the state and is owed $1 million more.

 

Original goals

Mr. McCabe points out that a lot of progress has been made toward meeting the original goals of the bond.

As stated in the Sample Ballot and Voter Information Pamphlet at the time of the election, the projects to be accomplished with the bond funds were: Convert open-space classrooms into conventional classrooms; build additional classrooms; build an auditorium; expand the library/media center and extend technology campus-wide; build a cafeteria to allow the campus to be closed; add more parking and more recreational facilities.

 

Highest priorities

“One of the highest priorities for the public, when we were working on the bond measure, was that the campus be closed at lunchtime,” Mr. McCabe recalls.

“Therefore, the construction of a cafeteria/multi-purpose room was our first new building because we could not close the campus until we had a facility to feed all of the students.

“We closed the campus to all students but seniors starting in the fall of 2001 and this has worked very well.”

YHS Principal Steve Raupp said closing the campus went so smoothly there were no complaints from the community.

“I commend the staff on how professional they were in taking on this huge task of closing the campus,” Mr. McCabe says. “It all worked beautifully.”

 

Remodeling

Renovation of the original open-space classrooms was also a high priority. “All of the original buildings but two have been remodeled,” Mr. McCabe says and those two will be remodeled in the near future.

One of the original open-space buildings was turned into a state-of-the-art library / media center that includes a 30-station computer lab plus additional computer work stations in the main part of the library.

Another original building was renovated to become science classrooms and laboratories. The shop building was remodeled into individual rooms for welding, auto and woodworking classes.

The front building on the campus was converted into an administration building for the district office and YHS. Mr. McCabe says the front building was chosen as the administration building as a user-friendly approach for parents and the community.

In the past, the YHS administration office was in the middle of the campus and the district office was at the far end of the campus. “You almost needed a hunting permit to find them,” he says.

The last two buildings to be converted are the performing arts classroom building that will be turned into a performing arts center beginning in the fall of 2003 after new music classrooms are completed and the building that houses home economics and art which will be converted as soon as funds are available.

Plans have been drawn for new permanent classrooms on the campus. When the district receives the $1 million the state owes it at this time, it will go toward construction of the permanent classrooms.

 

Technology, too

Great strides have been made, Mr. McCabe says, in expanding technology throughout the district. Thanks to a number of grants over the past four years, there is at least one computer in every classroom. There is a 4.75 to one student to computer ratio and there are six full computer labs on campus. A fiber optic backbone that connects the entire campus was put in with bond funds.

A large new parking lot has been added, including two bridges for access. Work is underway to build new baseball fields and the tennis courts have been resurfaced. Locker rooms were remodeled and enlarged in the school's gymnasium. This project included increasing the locker room capacity by 50 percent, adding a team room, trainer's facility and storage areas.

“Our plans to construct a new performing arts center had to be scaled back because of the state funding, but we believe the 400-seat center that we now have planned will be adequate for many years,” Mr. McCabe says.

Additional projects have included a greenhouse, fencing and roads at the agriculture farm; areas for record storage; exterior lighting around the campus; and fencing of almost the entire 95-acre campus.

“We have worked hard to complete the projects that have the biggest impact on student safety and a positive learning environment.

“If we receive the million dollars from the state, and as we accumulate developer-fee money, we will continue to work on the project,” Mr. McCabe concludes.