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The Pleasanton school board is set to discuss and possibly approve three early stage design agreements that would get the ball rolling on the first group of Measure I projects during Thursday’s board meeting.
According to the district staff report, the three pre-design and design management service agreements will be for an Early Education Center at Harvest Park Middle School, renovations to the Pleasanton Middle School field and the Educational Options Center that would be built on what is currently Village High School.
All three projects are part of the district’s work to create a detailed implementation plan that district leaders say will help ensure they deliver the promises listed in the $395 million general obligation Measure I bond that voters passed in November.
District staff would work alongside Van Pelt Construction Services, a business management consultant, to expedite the planning of the three new Measure I projects.
In 2020, the school board had approved a long-term agreement with Van Pelt for program and construction management services for the $270 million general obligation Measure I1 bond that Pleasanton residents passed in 2016.
According to the staff report, full construction management services are excluded in these pre-design services that the board will be discussing on Thursday but those full services will be included in future agreements once all the Measure I projects have been identified and prioritized in the upcoming implementation plan for the remaining Measure I1 bond and the new Measure I bond projects.
“The pre-design and design management professional services will include assisting the district with planning these projects while the implementation plan is being developed,” according to the staff report. “Services will include soliciting architects, project planning and coordination with district leadership, staff, site staff and the community and developing the scope of work for each project.”
The district plans on executing a full construction management services agreement within the next four to six months.
A total of just under $219,500 will be allocated to all three projects — $82,830 for the PMS field renovation, $43,146 for the Harvest Park Early Education Center and $93,500 for the Educational Options Center.
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (March 9). Read the full agenda here.
In other business
* District staff will be presenting the second of two interim reports for the 2022-23 adopted budget as part of the budget review process.
The school board will be asked to approve the report and certify the district’s financial condition for the current and two subsequent fiscal years — this process happens when the district adopted its budget in June and at each of these interim budget reports.
“The second interim report indicates that the district can maintain the required 3% reserves for economic uncertainties for the current fiscal year and through 2024-25 meeting the required budget certification requirement,” the staff report states.
According to the report, the second interim report will also reflect updates to the current budget through Jan. 31 including updated Cost of Living Adjustment estimates for the next couple of fiscal years and adjustments to the Local Control Funding Formula based on new enrollment projections.
The funding formula is the mechanism through which most of the state’s public schools are funded and is calculated based on average daily attendance (ADA) and per-student funding allocation.
According to the staff report, while the district continues to see declining enrollment and related fiscal impact, there have been some improvements in enrollment since October 2022.
However, the district will still need to look at right sizing — another way of saying letting go — staff and at programs or positions funded by one time sources to see where they can cut costs.
* The Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, which is the group tasked with making sure all the bond dollars from both Measure I and Measure I1 are properly spent, will be presenting its yearly report to the board.
Formed in 2016 as a result of Measure I1 being passed, the committee is an independent oversight committee that “assists in ensuring bond revenues are expended only for the purposes outlined in the bond project list approved by Pleasanton voters.
The committee is required to conduct one annual meeting each year but according to the staff report, it actually held and conducted six meetings last year.
