This Time Was Different…

Over the past 18 months, the SBC has gone through several rounds of lengthy and difficult decision-making to cut costs and keep the project on budget. At each step we used our core project values to make tough choices, and through the 90% construction document phase, we were able to make cuts without impinging on those values too much.

The last round was different.

In December, the project went out to bid and the marketplace got to have its say. Now we saw the impact of a combining a complex, phased renovation with a hot construction market and changing trade policy. The bids came in $3.5M over budget. So…we rolled up our sleeves once again – February was rough! Cutting $3.5 million out of the project meant that the SBC, for the first time, needed to eliminate parts of the project that we had tried really hard to protect. Parts of the project that represent our collective community values.  Values identified after years of community conversation and collaboration.

As a result, we are asking residents to approve using $829K from Free Cash to restore 8 items (below).

To quote Chris Fasciano, SBC Chair, “…the SBC is acutely aware of the pressure of the current [COVID and financial] situation and we have given this request a lot of thought. In the end, we feel the responsibility of delivering a school project that has the most long-term value for our investment. We don’t want to look back in five years and regret that we didn’t present the community with a choice about whether or not to include these pieces of the project.”

Want to learn more? Have questions?

• Watch the 1st SBC Public Forum here.
• Fill out this questionnaire (the link to the video is also imbedded) and ask questions.
• Register to attend the SBC Public Forum on Monday, June 8th @8:00pm

Just for fun…What does the school look like from up in the air? (scroll down to find the answer!)