How school bond money spent the summer

Sonoma Valley schools were off for the summer, but district bond money was hard at work on infrastructure projects, such as heating and air systems and a new roof at the high school.

Perhaps the most exciting project, according to Bruce Abbott, the school district’s Associate Superintendent for Business Services, was installing new furniture for “21st century learning”  at Dunbar Elementary.

He explained that the new furniture at Dunbar is designed to facilitate small group instruction and collaborative learning. “The model of direct whole-class instruction by the teacher, with the student chairs and desks in rows facing front, is a thing of the past.”The modern furniture includes chairs that are easy to move, roll, and hook together, making reconfiguring the room a quick operation.  Other components of the new-age classroom are bouncing and rocking chairs, four-wheelers, and sliders, designed to provide kinetic opportunities for children who need to move.

The entire project came out to about $700,000.

Professional development is part of the total expenditure. This will provide training to help teachers use the new furniture to full advantage to reconfigure the classroom for different learning situations.

Why Dunbar? Abbott responded that the site was chosen because it is small. Teachers there will try the new furniture for this school year, at which time it will be evaluated before purchasing for other sites.

What other bond money projects were accomplished this summer? New HVAC systems were installed at four sites. At Dunbar the cost was $1,023,827, and at Altimira, the final contract price was $1,956,437.

 Sassarini and Sonoma Valley High received new HVAC systems as well as new roofs, for a total of $1,826,870 at the elementary school and $3,102,474 at the high school. New HVAC systems have previously been installed at other sites.

 Two other projects were accomplished at the high school. One is the Ag Farm Improvements project, at a Current Contract Amount of $1,099,383. And renovations were made to the school library. These carried the lowest price tag of the summer at $408,515.

Nancy Radloff of Business Services said that construction manager Tenaya Dale of Counter Point Construction, which has been retained by the school district for oversight of the projects, will present an update at the regular September 11 school board meeting.