Gimme shelter … and fast! As one of the fastest growing districts in the nation, Elk Grove USD has had to be innovative in the areas of funding, planning and construction in order to build cost-effective, quality schools in a timely manner

Leadership, May-June, 2004 by David W. Gordon

With an average of eight new students moving into the Elk Grove Unified School District every day, the district continues to be one of the fastest growing in the nation. Our dramatic growth has challenged us to find innovative and efficient ways to build quality, cost-effective schools in a timely manner.

The tremendous growth in south Sacramento County has pushed our enrollment from 18,200 in 1987 to 55,600 today. Even when the state's economy lagged, the housing market in Elk Grove remained strong, and today we are seeing a tremendous increase in the number of new houses being built. Last year more than 6,000 housing permits were issued in our district. We expect to reach 80,000 students within six years, and we will continue to grow well after that.

We now operate 51 schools, including 33 elementary schools, six high schools and six middle schools. We project that we will need an additional 24 schools within the next six years--in addition to the six that are currently under construction and will open within the next 18 months.

That's a tall order for any district, and we are fortunate in Elk Grove to receive strong leadership from our Board of Education. Board members have always been proactive in planning schools and have made it a priority to keep our older schools in top condition.

We also have an outstanding facilities and planning department headed up by Constantine Baranoff, a veteran school builder for more than 30 years. He is, without a doubt, one of the best school planners in California, if not the nation. His foresight in planning has been instrumental in our ability to keep pace with growth.

Funding streams

Dealing with growth is a way of life in Elk Grove. We have needed to be very proactive in order to open 28 new schools in the past 18 years. Another critical step in being able to build schools has been to combine three funding streams--local bonds, state bonds and developer fees.

Under our funding plan, local bonds contribute 19 percent, developer fees 40 percent and state bonds 41 percent. Without this shared cost, the $200 million annual construction budget would be too burdensome on our local homeowners.

We are very grateful that our community has passed two local bonds since 1987. Combined with developer fees, the bond proceeds provide a steady income that we use to qualify for matching state funds.

But building the school is only part of the cost of opening new schools. We also need to pay for new desks, school supplies and additional staff members such as principals, custodians and counselors whenever we open a new school.

As with any large expenditure, it's wise to save up, and that's just what we do with our "new school start-up fund." Right now we need to set aside about $6 million a year so that we will be prepared to operate three to five new schools annually for the next several years when they are completed.

Unfortunately, our district construction schedule largely depends on the availability of state bonds. Therefore, we work to have our school construction plans approved by the state so that we are in position to apply for state funds when state bonds pass. A few months can make the difference between opening a school on schedule or the following year.

School architectural plans

One way we have been able to build schools quickly is to reuse a school's architectural plan several times. Even though the plan must be adjusted each time to accommodate the unique features of a new site, that is still quicker than creating a new design each time a school will be built. It also cuts down on the review process at the design stage because our staff is already familiar with the plan.

Reusing school plans also helps us make any adjustments we need based on input from principals, teachers and staff who work at schools with the same design and can of for suggestions on what will work better for students and staff. Staff may suggest adjusting the layout of the office, or where to install wiring for phones and computers.

And having the experience of seeing how well a plan holds up also helps us know when some materials will age too quickly, so that we can use something different when the school is built.

This helps us save money in two ways--it cuts down on architectural fees when we don't have to start from scratch every time, and we have discovered that contractors can bid more competitively because of their experience with the design. But the bottom line for us is that reusing designs improves the plans so that we can build the best possible schools for our students and staff.

We don't just reuse designs for an entire school. We also reuse plans for individual buildings at different schools that have proven to be popular with staff, parents and students.

For example, nearly 20 years ago our board made it a priority to have a library building at each of our elementary schools, which most of our older schools did not have. One particular design for a stand-alone library with an attached computer room and classroom has been reused quite effectively at a number of schools. By having the exterior design and color match the surrounding buildings, it makes a wonderful addition at any school.