With more than a dozen items listed on Thursday’s agenda relating to campus facilities updates, change orders and the awarding of contracts, construction will be a topic weighing heavily on the minds of local board of education members this week.
More than $1 million in funding could be approved if all of the items listed under the agenda’s “Facilities Improvement Projects” section were to be ratified by Santa Monica-Malibu School District’s Board of Education Thursday.
A majority of the funds will come from previous bond measures, and most of the items are a result of amendments to agreements or change orders, according to Thursday’s agenda. Projects listed in the facilities improvement section include, among others, work related to the installation of perimeter cameras at Santa Monica High School, a new playground at Malibu Elementary School and the John Adams Middle School Performing Arts Complex Project.
Malibu Middle and High School Campus Master Plan
The lone discussion item on this week’s agenda relates to the Malibu Middle and High School Campus Master Plan (Malibu Campus Plan), which was initiated a little more than a year ago in Sept. 2018 when the district hired the design firm LPA Inc.
“The scope of work was to assess current facilities conditions and re-envision educational programs in order to develop a plan that will address the campus needs and their impact to facilities in a comprehensive and thoughtful manner,” the agenda states. “As part of the process, two committees were formed — the Steering Committee and the larger Site Planning Committee — to help oversee and guide the planning process and to review input received from the various stakeholder groups.”
In the time since LPA’s hiring, Malibu students, parents, staff and community members have completed surveys to help staff understand what should be prioritized in the Malibu Campus Plan. Three-hundred and twenty-one survey responses were received, according to the agenda, and the current Malibu Campus Plan is expected to be presented to the board Thursday.
“Based on community and site feedback, a major focus of the Malibu Campus Plan is to ensure that Malibu Middle and High School are two separate and distinct campuses (that) maintain some shared spaces and facilities,” the agenda states, before delving into the various phases of the proposed plan.
District staff said the Malibu Campus Plan is the culmination of more than 50 meetings with staff, students, community and various key stakeholder groups, including the city of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission.
The agenda adds the Malibu Facilities District Advisory Committee recommends the Board of Education approve the plan as presented, in which case the district will proceed to issue a Request for Qualifications for Architectural and Engineering Services to begin design and further development of the project’s first phase.
“The Board of Education will have an opportunity to take action on the plan and phasing when approving the architect’s contract at a Board of Education meeting early in 2020,” according to the agenda. Funding for this project will come from Measure M, which passed by voters in Nov. 2018.
brennon@smdp.com
