By Andrew Coen
Ivan Carrasquillo of WGC Engineering, who was part of a five-person inspection team that surveyed the district's buildings last year, said at the Jan. 24 school board meeting that many sections of the facilities are in dire need of repair. Among the items that Carrasquillo said need to be addressed in the near future are the windows at Lawrence High School, the ceiling of the high school auditorium, middle school elevator, roof at the Number Two and Five Schools, and masonry at the Number Four School.
Lawrence superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons has said that capital projects need to be completed, but that it is unrealistic to expect to be able to accomplish them within the operating budget as a result of operating on austerity the last three years. "While we remain on a contingency budget as we have been the last three years, I don't see any way we can fund these kind of repairs in the operating budget," said Fitzsimons at the Jan. 24 meeting. "We don't have reserves anywhere close to fund the projects recommended."
District officials have stated that using some of the proceeds from the future sale or lease of the Number One School property is one option to address some of the most important building needs.
"We have to work hard to get a bond passed," said school board president Frank Parise in a phone interview.
Parise did not specify when the school board might attempt to pass a bond.
Last year, the school board considered trying to pass a $11 million "mini bond," which would have completed the number one and two priorities in the district buildings, according to a five-year capital plan conducted by the architectural firm John A. Grillo & Associates that was unveiled in the fall of 2004. District officials have said that in order to complete all building needs in the district's five year plan, which include prioritizing the items that need to be addressed from one to five, would cost about $27 million.
District 15 voters twice rejected a $20 million "nuts and bolts" bond in 2003 by 1,332 and 1,042 votes. If the bond had passed, the district would have taken care of what they officials described as "bare essential items" in the buildings.
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