In yet another roadblock for the construction of a new Alcalde Elementary, the state Public School Facilities Authority rejected rudimentary plans for the school and told the Española School District it must resolve several issues before architects can start designing the school.
Fanning, Bard and Tatum, the District’s on-call architecture firm, submitted to the Authority Jan. 21 “programming plans” — essentially a document stating how many rooms the school would have and how many students it would accommodate. The Authority questioned whether the enrollment anticipated in the plans is accurate and demanded the District explain exactly how it plans to pay for the school, according to a Feb. 10 memo from District Facilities Manager Paul Salas.
“(The Authority) has several issues that the District must resolve before approval can be given for (Fanning, Bard and Tatum) to proceed with the design phase,” Salas wrote, and called for the School Board to come up with a plan to present to the Authority.
Board Secretary Andrew Chavez, who heads the Board’s construction committee, confirmed his committee would be looking into the issue “soon,” but did not specify when.
Too Big
Much of the Authority’s analysis hinges on the size of the proposed school.
The programing plans called for a school with enough classroom space for 200 students, but a “core” for 400. That means the school’s gym, cafeteria, playground and office space would be large enough to accommodate a potential 400 students in case the District decides to expand the school down the road.
The 53,840-square-foot facility would have 14 classrooms and eight special education classrooms plus a library, cafeteria and kitchen, according to the plans.
But the Authority contends even a 200-student enrollment projection is optimistic, arguing Alcalde’s enrollment has been declining for the past five years and will shrink to 110 students by the beginning of the 2014 school year.
State Education Department data shows Alcalde’s enrollment has shrunk at a rate of about 10 students a year, from 168 students at the start of the 2004-05 school year to 135 students at the start of this school year.
Alcalde principal Leroy Martinez refuted the 110-student estimate by saying current enrollment is well above that number.
“Our enrollment is about 145,” Martinez said. “We hope to maintain that enrollment, if not increase by 10 percent..”
The idea of building a school capable of accommodating 400 students trails back to discussions, left behind almost a year ago, among District and state officials to combine Alcalde and Velarde elementary schools.
The Authority revived that idea in its analysis, pointing out the District’s five-year master plan, written in 2007, still states the District may combine the two schools. If the District were to combine the schools, it could obtain state funding for a 400-student facility, the memo states.
Instead, the District will likely seek state funding for a 200-student school, build a school that could be expanded to 400 students, and pay for the difference itself, Salas said.
“It’ll cost us $500,000, but we’re willing to pay for it,” Salas said.
The only School Board member who publicly endorsed consolidation, Joe Romero, just exited the Board after deciding not to run in the February election.
Superitendent David Cockerham would not commit to saying whether the idea of combining Alcalde and Velarde is dead, but said only that “there’s always the possibility that some of the Velarde students will want to attend a new (Alcalde) school.”
Cockerham said the reason for building a 400-student school is because the District foresees population growth in the Alcalde area. He added that the nearby Fairview and San Juan elementary schools have large student populations. The Board could create three mid-sized schools by re-drawing their attendance areas and sending some of those schools’ students to Alcalde, he said.
Salas told Cockerham in the memo that the District must provide a written statement with its plans for Alcalde and Velarde.
Authority Director Bob Gorell, who has long claimed his agency has no official stance on combining Alcalde and Velarde, said the Authority is asking the District to clarify its plans.
Velarde Elementary Principal Roberto Archuleta said he wants the two schools to remain separate, arguing smaller schools educate students more effectively. The federal Education Department awarded Velarde its Blue Ribbon award in November for meeting adequate yearly progress in three of the past four years.
$16.2 Million School
The Authority also asked the District for a “financial strategy for funding its portion of the (Alcalde Elementary) project” — especially if it plans to pay for an expansion to a 400-student school on its own, the memo states.
The cost of building a new school in Alcalde has more than doubled from original estimates of $7.4 million in 2005 to current estimates of $12.25 million to $16.2 million, according to the programming plans.
The state Public School Capital Outlay Council, which distributes state construction funding to school districts, had awarded the District $4.1 million for a new Alcalde school in 2005. The District at the time committed $3.2 million from a 2002 bond measure to cover the rest of the cost. It has since spent all but $2.2 million of that.
The Council covers 59 percent of the cost of District construction projects it approves, and the District is expected to cover the difference with its own funds.
Given the dramatic increase in cost since the 2005 estimate, the District will have to approach the Council for additional funding. Gorrell said the District would have to ask the Council to modify the 2005 award to reflect current estimates.
“It’s taken a long time (for the District),” Gorrell said. “I’m not exactly sure why it’s taken so long. It will be funded to adequacy provided there are enough available funds.”
In the meantime, the District will have to figure out how to fund its own portion of the construction cost — which could now amount to as much as $6.2 million.
Salas said in his memo the District could likely cover its share from a yet-to-be-passed two-mil levy.
But Leo Valdez, whom the District hired as a consultant on its planned two-mil levy and bond issue, said Tuesday a two-mil levy would not bring in enough revenue to fund a large capital project like the construction of a new school. Instead, the District would need to pass a bond election. The District last passed a bond in 2002, and a 2007 bond measure failed.
Mildred Martinez, whose seventh-grade daughter attended elementary school in Alcalde and studied in portable buildings since the third grade, said she’s frustrated with the slow process of getting the school built. She remembered attending meetings several years ago between parents and the District and said it seemed to her that no progress has been made since.
“If they want to push another bond, parents are so disgusted and discouraged, that I’m one parent who won’t vote for the bond,” Martinez said.
Board Member Floyd Archuleta said he understood Martinez’s view, but knew there were plenty of people in the area who would support the measure. He said the Board would likely try to pass a two-mil levy before it considers holding a bond election.
“Yeah, there are a lot of people against (the bond), but a lot of people are for it,” Archuleta said. “I think a total assurance would need to happen to let the people know how the money will be spent. I think it’s a matter of educating the people.”
In the meantime, Martinez said of School Board Secretary Andrew Chavez’s statement that the construction committee will discuss the school “soon” that she’s heard it all before. Chavez represents Alcalde, Velarde and San Juan elementary schools on the Board and he is her representative.
“I hope that our board member in our precinct will show some progress,” Martinez said. “That’s been an ongoing response. That’s been the same old response.”
Missing Deed
Though it wasn’t brought up by the Authority, the District has yet to secure its deed to the 24 acres on the east side of Highway 68 where the school would be built. It has been waiting for two years. That land is part of about 150 acres that Rio Arriba County received from the federal government in 2007.
County Commissioner Elias Coriz said the County and the District were close to transferring the deed.
“We’re getting together at three o’clock (Tuesday),” he said. “We’re getting together with their attorney and our attorney so that everyone feels comfortably (sic) with the language.”
Coriz said the deed originally called for the District and the County to share the cost of water treatment and infrastructure on the property. He said the deed will be modified to state all the parties using the County land — including the North Central Solid Waste Authority, the North Central Regional Transit District, a business park and a cemetery — will split the costs.
Once the language is revised and reviewed by both parties, Coriz said the District will have their deed.