May 2, 2008

Cooler classrooms, better fields on tap

District moves forward with key renovations

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

While aspects of its $298 million construction bond may be in doubt, the San Mateo Union High School District is moving ahead on several top-priority renovation projects.

Air conditioners for windowless classrooms that can reach 95 degrees on warm days top a list of improvements that got approval from the school board at a special meeting Thursday.

Aragon, Hillsdale and Mills high schools - all of which have unventilated interior classrooms that become sweltering in the fall and spring - will get new chiller units, air conditioning equipment and chilled water pipes after the board unanimously approved going to bid on those projects.

The projects are expected to cost about $3.4 million. The money comes from the bond package approved by voters in 2006 as Measure M.

Problems with the ballot measure's wording mean that the district will need approval from the county board of supervisors in order to get the full $298 million in bond revenues. However, that doesn't prevent the district from proceeding with the first round of projects.

Other improvements approved by the board Thursday draw some funding from Measure M and the rest from other sources. Those improvements include new athletic fields at four high schools, including installing artificial turf at two San Mateo campuses, Aragon and Hillsdale.

The money for the turf, estimated at $1.3 million, does not come from Measure M but from donations by booster groups, city parks and recreation departments, and the San Andreas Youth Soccer Organization, or SAYSO.

SAYSO and at least one city will get priority in scheduling field time in exchange for their gifts, an arrangement that some other groups have decried but on which Superintendent David Miller has been vetted by the district's lawyers.

"Those that have donated certainly will have access to the fields, but not exclusive access," Miller said. Asked whether smaller youth sports groups might get squeezed out of all the prime field times, he said, "We're hiring someone to handle all of the assignments at the fields to make sure that doesn't happen."

Overall, the turf fields will be a boon to local sports groups, because unlike the easily damaged natural grass fields, they'll be available for use year-round, Miller added.

Also on Thursday, the school board approved going to bid for the last portion of toxic soil removal at Burlingame High School. Officials expect the fences to come down, and the contaminated fields to be reopened in the next few weeks, weather permitting.

"I think everybody will be excited," said Liz McManus, the district's chief business official. "There's been a lot of construction going on at Burlingame for a long time, and it's been very disruptive, and now it's coming to a close."

Money for the decontamination came from a combination of district loans and state grants.

E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.