Glendale school district makes building plans
Glendale school officials plan to adopt a new timeline for constructing classroom buildings on select campuses to relieve overcrowding and do away with portable bungalows.
In late March, state officials changed regulations for how school districts apply for funds known as Overcrowding Relief Grants, moving up the deadline for applying for them.
To avoid missing out on access to tens of millions of state dollars, Glendale Unified plans to begin a construction process sooner than expected to tap into potentially up to $58 million in state funds.
The district plans to match that amount with $56 million of local Measure S dollars to replace bungalows with permanent one- or two-story buildings at 10 Glendale campuses.
“Now, instead of taking more time, we have to do them all up front and do them sooner than expected,” said Alan Reising, a facilities administrator for Glendale Unified. “It’s a good problem to have. All of our school sites are excited about it.”
Under the new timeline, crews could start construction on buildings at Verdugo Woodlands and R.D. White elementary schools as well as at Glendale and Hoover high schools in 2015.
In 2016, construction could begin at Fremont, Muir, Balboa and Jefferson elementary schools.
Crews could break ground on new classrooms on the campuses of Lincoln and La Crescenta elementary schools in 2017.
Glendale Unified previously added permanent classrooms using the state’s overcrowding relief grant program at Roosevelt Middle School and Columbus Elementary, with those projects completed in 2010 and 2008, respectively.
School officials cut the ribbon on the district’s latest project at Mark Keppel Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School last week in a ceremony that celebrated a $9.2-million project that included construction of 14 permanent classrooms as well as a new amphitheater and art studio.
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Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan.
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