Photo courtesy of www.ggusd.k12.ca.us/bell/
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. ― A ceremonial groundbreaking signifying the beginning of more than $500 million in comprehensive school modernizations throughout the Garden Grove Unified School District takes place July 17.
The groundbreaking is set for 5:15 p.m. at Bell Intermediate School, 12345 Springdale St., Garden Grove.
The ceremony with the Board of Education, members of the Measure A Bond Oversight Committee, invited VIPs, and parents, represents the official start of multi-year infrastructure projects designed to benefit 66 schools in the GGUSD. The ambitious program is funded by Measure A, the school bond approved by district voters in June 2010.
Measure A authorized $250 million in bonds and enabled the GGUSD to qualify for more than $200 million in matching state school bond revenue for large-scale repairs and renovations throughout the district. As an added funding bonus, $47 million in supplemental school-improvement grants were secured, increasing the total projected Measure A budget to $503 million over the seven to eight years required for the completion of all bond-financed projects.
“Months of thorough planning are paying dividends as we embark on the first sweeping school modernization program in the district’s history. The Board of Education is honored along with the community to be part of this significant milestone,” said Dr. George West, board of education president. “All of our energies through Measure A are focused on one goal … to provide our current and future students with outstanding, up-to-date facilities where learning can flourish in the 21st Century.”
With most district schools built more than a half-century ago, Measure A expenditures are intended to support major updates to safety, utility and internal communications systems. Bond proceeds, combined with state matching funds, are financing such wide-ranging improvements as renovating electrical circuitry, plumbing, lighting, roofing, intercom and fire safety systems; improving energy efficiency; replacing doors, windows and outdated heating and ventilation systems; updating playground safety matting; upgrading telecommunications systems to accommodate current technology; replacing restroom plumbing, tile and fixtures; retrofitting schools for better accessibility for the disabled; burying new underground conduits for technology growth; installing new classroom carpeting; repainting school interiors and exteriors; and new underground natural gas piping.
Twelve schools (Bell Intermediate School; Brookhurst, Eisenhower, Excelsior, Enders, Garden Park, Heritage, Northcutt, Monroe, Simmons, Wakeham and Woodbury elementary schools) are the initial sites designated for a combined $24 million in total improvements as work begins this summer. Because some projects are too extensive for completion over summer vacation or other recess periods, students will relocate to temporary classrooms on their campus or in comparable accommodations at a nearby alternative host site while construction takes place. The full range of services to students, including busing and food services, will continue uninterrupted when classes resume in the fall.
Three Phase 1 schools – Garden Park and Monroe elementary schools and Bell Intermediate – will move to nearby school locations for the 2012-13 school year. Garden Park will relocate at Patton Elementary School and Monroe will move to Northcutt Elementary School. Incoming students from Garden Park and Monroe will not displace students at the two host elementary schools.
All programs at Bell Intermediate will shift to Chapman-Hettinga Education Center, while the adult education program at Chapman-Hettinga will find temporary housing at Lincoln Education Center.
For additional information, call the district’s Public Information Office at (714) 663-6503 or go online to the ‘Measure A’ link from the GGUSD website at www.ggusd.us, or navigate directly to www.ggusd.us/measurea.html. Measure A questions may also be directed by e-mail to [email protected].
