Building Trades News

Seven New LA Unified Schools Open

Part of Largest School Construction Project in Nation’s History By Grace Lee BTN Staff Writer click to enlarge Marking a milestone in the largest school construction and repair project in the nation’s history, the Los Angeles Unified School system began the 2006-2007 school year with the opening of seven new schools Sept. 5. The unprecedented construction build up will certainly be the legacy of outgoing Superintendent Roy Romer, who’s vision included taking students off year-round calendars and busing and into traditional fall-summer schedules. LASUD has built and opened 63 campuses since 2000. Only 24 schools had opened between 1972 and 1999. During those years, the District had built on average less than two schools per year, including only one middle school and no comprehensive high school. By contrast, 13 new schools are expected to open during the 2006-2007 school year. The schools will serve more than 10,000 students, and are part of a $19 billion voter approved program to build new schools, repair existing facilities and relieve campus overcrowding. The construction has so far created the equivalent of 239,647 new jobs, said Veronica Soto, director of contractor relations and small business program. Some $12 billion in wages from direct and indirect jobs have resulted from the projects and created $1.2 billion in taxes. For example, from March through Dec. 31, 2005, a total of 9,054 Building Trades workers were hired. Wages totaled $21,845,455 and the average hourly rate was $25.79. Some 30 percent of the work force was apprentices.Building trades workers helped the school district face a key hurdle, said Soto. click to enlarge “Our two greatest challenges were contract capacity and the availability of skilled labor,” Soto said. “Thanks to our partnership with the Building Trades, we were able to partner with them and get the skilled labor we needed. Among the contractors that were hired for the construction program are Hensel Phelps and Clark Construction, which oversaw the completion of the Miguel Contreras Educational Complex, named after the late Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Of the 13 schools set to open this year, two already started this summer, seven opened Sept. 5 and the remaining four are to be open later this year. Since the program began in 2006, 65 new schools have opened. Some 800 schools will be renovated. This year marks the first year that no new busing will be forced to ease overcrowding. The district hopes to build 150 new schools by the year 2012. In Phase 1, the first six years of the overall project, 77,000 seats will be added and is planning another 35,000 seats as part of Phase II. On Sept. 5, Romer led a Back to School tour to celebrate the opening of the seven new schools. “The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking another important step in transforming our schools and our neighborhoods to help improve the quality of life for children,” Romer said. “By transforming the landscape of LAUSD, we are proud to give our children the tools they need to suceed.” Through a community outreach process, the public is engaged in selecting sites, expressing needs and following the progress of the project. Approvals on location, design and environmental testing on every project are mandated at the State, local and Board of Education levels. Modernization of existing campuses is determined by a contract between each school and that District that outlines the school’s needs. LAUSD is taking an innovative approach in designing new schools and additions to existing campuses. Previously, the District used a single basic building design that was replicated at nearly every school. click to enlarge Because land is limited for construction in the region, the District came up with unique designs for each school.  More than 70 prominent architects have created award-winning designs that address the needs of each community. The construction timeline ranges anywhere from nine months to two years. All contractors are hired through a public bidding process and the projects are covered by a building trades project labor agreement. Phase I is set to include 159 school construction projects comprising 80 new schools and additions to 79 existing schools.

 

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