EES Construction Frequently Asked Questions

*Edit 01.24.2022 6:30pm--I have since learned the outdoor stage at PES was cancelled. I also want to note that the extra construction projects were planned in conjunction with the building of PES to get the best pricing from contractors for projects that needed to be completed anyway.*

*Edit 01.24.2022 6:41pm--Information about the Voted Local Levy listed below.*

*Edit 01.24.2022 9:38pm--Looking over the 2016 VCBO Report of the old PES and BVES and their seismic problems (how could EES built around the same time be seismically sound where the others are not) and Thursday's Hughes builder report on the "un-reinforced masonry"leads me to believe the original report was incomplete. 1975 was the first year where seismic standards were in place. Our building was built in the 1950's. I will research this further.

*Edit 01.25.2022 11:30am--added a new section on the costs to the end of the post. Added up total enrollment for EES to 108 students.

*Edit 01.25.2022 12:14pm--Mr. Dodds sent me an email confirming that mold was tested for and came back clean. Another test will be performed next week.

*Edit 01.26.2022 10:29pm--The description of the class sizes below is inaccurate--the rooms are larger, Each room varies in size to accommodate 28-32 students.

Since Thursday’s Board Meeting at Escalante High School there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the construction of the new Escalante Elementary. There are questions and concerns. I will do my best to answer some of the questions I’ve see floating around. Before I do so, if you read something posted here that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete information, please, reach out to me with correct information and documentation. I have combed through many documents researching this and have attended almost every board meeting for the last year and listened to all of them multiple times. Although I am biased, I believe I am fair in this report.

-Naketa Martel

What is the current layout of EES and how is it used?

The current Escalante Elementary Building is home to seven traditional classrooms.

 

Of these classrooms all seven are utilized in creative combinations of students. First, Second, and Third grades are taught by 2 ½ educators (Second grade has a half time teacher) and 4^th-6^th grades are taught by 2 educators. The Second and Fifth grades are floating classes. Second grade has their own teacher in the mornings and then after lunch alternates between First and Third grade with a computer lab pull-out during that time. Fifth grade alternates between Fourth and Sixth grade classrooms throughout the entire day.

 

Four specialized learning spaces utilized by groups of students include the library, technology room, literacy room, and Special Education room. Three more individualized spaces include the Principal’s office—used as a safe learning space for SPED students who need an alternate full-time learning space, the conference room is used for intermittent pullouts—for things like testing and intervention and serves as a make-shift principal’s office, and Speech services are administered in the teacher work room as needed. The Gym is also often used as a pullout space (when it is not being used for meal service, recess, or a class activity). In all, seven alternate learning spaces are utilized for valuable services on a consistent basis, with an eighth space (gym) used sporadically. It is common for EES facilities to be used at 100% capacity.

What is the proposed school being built?

The layout and face of the school is very similar to both Bryce Valley and Panguitch Elementary Schools. It features eight classrooms—seven traditional classrooms (each designed for 28-32 students) and one Special Education classroom (designed for 12 students). The floor plan also includes a media center, full gym, and staff spaces (conference room, work room, & restroom). In the gym there is a platform, with a kitchen and bathrooms off to the side. The gym platform can be equipped to be utilized as an instructional space. Lunch will be eaten in the gym. The entrance to the school requires visitors to check in at the office before entering the rest of the school. There are main bathrooms as well as smaller bathrooms near the gym. A floor plan can be seen on ehs.garfk12.org or requested from Naketa Martel, email naketaspendlove@gmail.com.

How many student attend EES?

Enrollment numbers giving at the December Board  meeting:

PreK:16

Kindergarten: 12

1^st: 12

2^nd: 13

3^rd: 16

4^th: 13

5^th: 11

6^th: 15

Total enrollment: 108

*EES utilizes a multi-grade leaning model to save money so class sizes can range from 24-29 students in a classroom at various times of the day.

What is going on with the roof?

In early 2021 as snow from a recent storm started to melt, there were multiple dripping ceiling tiles throughout the building—some classes had as many as 7 buckets catching water. At the time because of COVID precautions parents were not allowed in the building. A week after the first drips, parents found out about how widespread the leaking was, reached out to the district and school board, and attended the next school board meeting. As I understand, a seam in the roof was the source of all the water getting in and was repaired a few weeks later. Bruce Williams, former Business Administrator reported that the repair should last two years. The next rainstorm I checked with the EES office to see if there were leaks. There was one in the maintenance office but not the classrooms.

Mold:

After the building-wide leaking problem, the district had the building tested for mold and reported that there was not black mold detected. I have not see those test results. I do not know if there was any testing after any other rainstorms since the last test.

Asbestos:

I found this information about asbestos in a 2016 report from VCBO.

"Asbestos has been fully remediated according to staff."

 Earthquake:

 From the 2016 VCBO report. I believe this report is inaccurate* see above update

"This building is in good shape structurally. There are a few issues that will need to be addressed to bring the building up to the current seismic standard. Addressing these issues can be done fairly easily, will extend the life and serviceability of this building."

 The planning process for EES in a nutshell:

 In April, the board authorized Superintendent Dodds to start the planning process to build a new elementary school here in Escalante—including the location change. The new EES location is near the high school adjacent to the track. The district held a special meeting to collect feedback from the community specifically about the location. The board set a cap of $10 million dollars to the project.

 

Over the next few months the district conducted a site survey to determine the feasibility of building in a new location and to assess any added cost. The general consensus (conjecture) is that the new site infrastructure costs would not be much different from the current location. Because the district did not order a site study on the current EES site, any claims that the new site are more expensive are speculation.

 

In August, the architect presented a floor plan for the new EES at the board meeting. This Base Floor Plan featured eight classrooms: seven traditional classrooms and a Special Education room (which accommodates one mid-sized group and two small group learning spaces), and a full gym. During the August meeting the district collected feedback from community members who attended. This feedback combined with a site visit between Superintendent Dodds, Mr. Mecham (Business Administrator), Principal Baksis, Randy, and Melisa prompted Mr. Dodds, in September, to recommend to the board that the district bid out an Alternate Bid that included one additional classroom to the base plan.

 

The bids came back with the base plan coming in at $13.2 million dollars with the additional classroom costing an extra $330,000.  Because the bid came in over the $10 million dollar cap, the board must vote to proceed with construction.

 

 What space do we need in our new building?

 If you read about the how EES uses its space currently, you will see that the base building (eight classrooms) described above has less alternate learning spaces. It actually has fewer spaces than our current building. It will allow us to continue with the combined classes as we do now, but does not allow for single grade learning.

 The alternate bid will allow us to expand to single-grade learning if those staffing positions are ever authorized by the district. I get the general impression that the district will allow more flexibility for individual schools to decide how funds are spent.

 A ten-classroom building is more in line with the precedent set in the building of the two other schools. BVES has 12 classrooms and Panguitch has 16 classrooms in the new school plus an early learning center which houses the Kindergarten and Pre-K students. There are 4 classrooms in that building, totaling 20 classrooms at PES. Ten classrooms gives us room to grow and also offers the opportunity to have designated space for things like art or music.

What about the Levy we voted for to build these schools?

I had a question last summer and asked Bruce Williams, former Business Administrator. This was his response:

The Board of Education asked the public on 11/5/2013 to approve a tax levy called the Voted Local Levy which was committed to pay for capital projects including rebuilding elementary schools.  These funds could be used for teacher pay if not for the commitment to the public by the Board that funds would be used for buildings.  Legally, the Board could change that priority and use the funds for operating the district and paying teachers.  The Board has not given any indication that they want to go against the promise that they made to the public to use the funds for buildings made when the Voted Local Levy was approved by voters.

What was the cost of Panguitch Elementary School and Bryce Valley Elementary School?

 

The bids for the schools came in at  $13,740,501 for Panguitch Base school. Included in the PES bid was a contingency account and a number of other projects. Those projects were: Re-roofing and insulating the existing gymnasium at PES and building an exterior stage and performance area onto the existing gym. At Panguitch High School, exterior security glazing, new courtyard and site work, renovation of locker rooms, and refurbishing the gym ceiling. At Panguitch Middle School, the bathroom renovation. Site work at Escalante High School was also included in the bid as was CO Detection System(s). To total bid with all alternates came in at $16,442,263.

 

Bryce Valley Elementary School bid came in at $9,326,513.

 The district has not released final cost numbers for the two schools. Although in district financial statements, along with my search on transparent.utah.gov, there don’t appear to be any substantial overages. I am currently researching this further.

What is the cost for the school:

In the Special Meeting held by the board, Lane Mecham, Business Administrator and Hughes construction presented numbers and scenarios. In all examples (except for the hypothetical scenario were we hit another 2008 recession in the next two years) the cost to build EES will increase and the district will end up spending more on the school. The funds used to cover the cost and debt service for the school and the current loan for PES are funds set aside for capital projects, not teacher pay. See the information on the Levy. Here are screen shots of the costs from Mr. Mecham's presenation:

 A note of acknowledgment:

 In this time where we’re all fired up to get our kids what they need, we need to acknowledge good things that are happening in our schools. The addition of early learning opportunities for our students like the investment in Pre-K  and all-day Kindergarten are priorities and will benefit our kids in their later school years. All-day Kindergarten added a Full-time position to our staff and freed up a half time teacher to teach 2^nd grade core subjects. This is a big deal! First and Second grades no longer had to be combined for this core subject learning time! We’ve had the addition of Computer Technology instruction on both our schools. This was done through efforts of Shawn Caine and a grant that she wrote. We’re getting A/C in the EHS gym. No more 90+ degree exercising for our students, and we can actually get cold at a Volleyball Game. These are just a handful of examples of the improvements I’ve seen in just a year of attending School Board Meetings.

Our Superintendant has a goal of uniting our district. I believe he and the board are sincere in this goal. They want things to change, and we want things to change too. I believe things are changing. I believe that it will also take time and patience. Let’s put in the work to forgive, talk more, and continue to support our kids.

Please come Thursday, January 27 to Tropic to witness the vote on what will happen with our new school. You can reach out with comments to the board and district:

jdodds@garfk12.org (Superintendent)

lane.mecham@garfk12.org (Business Administrator)

Cheryl.cox@garfk12.org (Board President)

April.LeFevre@garfk12.org (Board Member)

Myron.cottam@garfk12.org (Board Member)

Ralph.perkins@garfk12.org (Board Member)

Curtis.barney@garfk12.org (Board Member)