Consultant Hired for School Cost Update

Moving forward with plans to build a long-awaited Wood Ranch school in the western end of Simi Valley, trustees have hired a consultant to update a 7-year-old construction-cost estimate for the facility.

The five school board members voted to pay independent contractor Charles C. Monroe $9,050 to revamp the old $6.2-million cost estimate for a 500-student school.

A number of factors demand a new cost estimate, said Dave Kanthak, assistant superintendent for business services, at a Tuesday night meeting.

Since the 1989 cost estimate, seismic standards have been strengthened, class sizes have been whittled and the Americans with Disabilities Act requiring accommodations for disabled students has taken effect, he said.

In all likelihood, the price for the school will have jumped, Kanthak added, and the size of the school may be insufficient for enrollment trends.

Expected to open September 1998, a Wood Ranch school has been a chief request among residents of the sprawling subdivision for years.

Developer New Urban West Inc.--which plans to build 652 homes in the final section of the housing development--is expected to provide the needed money for the school by buying an 1,850-acre parcel from the Simi Valley Unified School District.

The school district inherited the parcel, called the Long Canyon property, after a previous developer filed for bankruptcy without building a promised school.

Also at the meeting, trustees decided to form a capital projects building fund, which will eventually hold the money from the sale of the Long Canyon property.