Search Results for: long range facilities plan
Long Range Facilities Plan Schematics – June 4 2019
Long Range Facilities Plan – Spring 2018
Long Range Facilities Plan
About LRFP
The District’s Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP) received preliminary approval from the Board of Education on November 19, 2018. The repairs, renovation, and new construction work of the Long Range Facilities Plan will address the health and safety issues in our facilities and expand our capacity to meet growing enrollment. The first bond sale closed during the summer of 2019; since this time, architects have been working on architectural designs for District facilities. During this time, numerous meetings were held during the school year to finalize designs. On June 22, 2020, the Board of Education authorized the administration to send the elementary school designs for code review. Code review is a process where building code officials examine the designs to ensure they follow all building codes. Once code review is completed the projects will be advertised for bid and contracts awarded.
The District submitted six elementary school construction plans to the state for approval and received approvals for four locations in March 2021. Approvals to bid additions and renovations were received for Clinton, Jefferson, Seth Boyden, and Tuscan elementary schools. On March 11, construction bids were advertised for Clinton Elementary and Jefferson Elementary schools. Subsequent bids for the remaining two schools will be advertised in the coming weeks. Construction plans for Marshall, South Mountain Elementary and South Mountain Annex are still in the approval process.
The work being undertaken through the Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP) initiative while a separate track supports the work and decisions that will be made concerning the SOMSD Intentional Integration Initiative. See more information and presentations below:
Weekly Construction Updates By School
General Updates
- SOMSD Construction Bid Schedule (February 8, 2023)
- SOMSD Construction Bid Schedule (February 1, 2023)
- Underhill Update 11.07.2022
- SOMSD Construction Bid Schedule (November 3, 2022)
- SOMSD to Hold Groundbreaking Ceremony at South Mountain Elementary School (March 2022)
- SOMSD to Hold Monumental Groundbreaking Ceremonies at Clinton, Jefferson, Seth Boyden and Tuscan Elementary Schools on June 24 & 28 (June 2021)
- Long Range Facilities Updates: Four Elementary Schools Approved to Bid Process (March 2021)
Presentations
- Long Range Facilities Plan - Architect Videos
- Long Range Facilities Plan - BOE Presentation - June 13, 2019. Final presentation of the LRFP to the Board of Education.
- Final Long Range Facility Plan Presentation - November 19, 2018. Board approved resolutions to amend the existing LRFP to include the Superintendent's recommendations from this presentation,
- Revised Long Range Facility Presentation - October 15, 2018, incorporating community feedback on original presentation
- Long Range Facility Presentation - Original Presentation Spring 2018
Schematics
Long Range Facilities Updates: Four Elementary Schools Approved to Bid Process
The District submitted six elementary school construction plans to the state for approval, we are happy to announce that we received approvals for four locations. Approvals to bid additions and renovations were received for Clinton, Jefferson, Seth Boyden, and Tuscan elementary schools. On March 11, construction bids were advertised for Clinton Elementary and Jefferson Elementary schools. Subsequent bids for the remaining two schools will be advertised in the coming weeks. Construction plans for Marshall, South Mountain Elementary and South Mountain Annex are still in the approval process.
For more information on the LRFP project visit: http://bit.ly/3c1KwaS
Press Release: South Orange & Maplewood School District Hopes For A Positive Outcome in SOMEA Disagreement (2/19/21)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: South Orange & Maplewood School District Hopes For A Positive Outcome in SOMEA Disagreement
February 19, 2021 – The South Orange & Maplewood School Board hopes to resolve recent disagreements with our local teacher’s association, SOMEA. As the union is scheduled to meet with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) today for a mediation hearing, the Board is hopeful that an outcome can be reached as it is undoubtedly consistent with the community stakeholders’ interests to resume in-person instruction as soon as possible.
Early evening on Monday, February 15, our local Association that represents many of our educators, SOMEA, directed its members to not report to schools to continue in-person hybrid instruction. On February 17th the Association expanded its stoppage to include bus drivers that refused to drive completely unoccupied buses and support staff, including secretaries and registrar personnel that work alone or with limited other personnel in large workspaces where they are socially distanced well-beyond the minimum six feet.
The Board previously negotiated with SOMEA regarding the building-related concerns they raised in their January 25 letter. The Board’s labor counsel has been in contact with SOMEA representatives regarding the current circumstances and since their Jan. 25 letter, the Board and Administration have chosen to work with the Union to do all we can to negotiate in good faith and be empathetic to the concerns that teachers and other employees have during the Pandemic. However, we were disappointed and blind-sided by SOMEA’s decision to not have teachers’ report for in-person teaching for Tues., February 16. After reviewing SOMEA’s most recent letter, the District respectfully disagrees with regard to SOMEA’s assessment regarding rooms, safety measures, and other issues presented.
SOMEA agreed that concerns could be addressed through our grievance process, but that was not allowed to continue to fruition. Our building administrators have been responsive to the needs put forward. While the District facilities are old, they are safe. Even in the best years, systems break down, it gets hot or cold in a room and we take action to fix it. We’ve had poorer weather this year than the last three years combined, which is unfortunate. But because so few students are in the buildings and we have a Sidebar Agreement, principals were relocating a small population of teachers as needed on a daily basis to put them in suitable rooms. Just like with anything else, we had to prioritize our responses to complaints and grievances, and there needed to be some patience to allow our facilities staff time to look into the issues presented.
We are continuing forward with a professional mediation process and we will also pursue any other legal options as agreed upon by our District counsel. We do this not because we are angry with our teachers, but because we love our students and are committed to serving our families who have been not only patient but very supportive.
In addition, we have been committed to being transparent, developing and launching a weekly dashboard of COVID-19 infections, and publicly acknowledging when there have been missteps along the way. The District has and continues to prepare rooms consistent with guidelines established by The Road Back, the New Jersey Department of Health, Federal CDC Guidance, and Industry standards. We take this work very seriously and we would not open the schools if we did not believe we could do it in a safe and healthy manner for both staff and students.
Dr. Ronald G. Taylor, SOMSD Superintendent, states, “We’re not doing anything unique by returning for in-person instruction. Hundreds of schools are doing this to a greater degree than we are. In our instance, we have chosen to implement a measured reopening approach consistent with what we’ve determined is safe for our community and staff.”
As a District, we stand by science and data. Unequivocally, the science and data both nationally and from our Phase 3 days in-person, support what we already know…if students and staff follow mitigation steps (masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene) the chances of school-based transmission of COVID-19 are very unlikely. We designed our reopening re-entry approach to be phased so that we would be able to be nimble and shift/pause if necessary. We designed our approach to get our most vulnerable students in first (Pre-K-2nd, 6th, and 9th) and most often (Special Services and English Language Learners). We were conservative, as most classes had 5 or fewer students in them.
Dr. Taylor also shares, “The NJ Department of Education has given every family a choice as to whether to be fully remote or to go in-person consistent with the District’s plan. The families that have chosen to have their children resume in-person instruction have relied on us to provide safe in-person instruction, and in good faith, we have been providing that.”
The District’s primary goal at this point is for students and staff to return for in-person instruction safely within the rooms that have already been designated by the District as “ready”, meaning they meet safety standards. We want to bring students back to school and most importantly serve them during a time when they are most vulnerable.
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About the South Orange & Maplewood School District
The School District of South Orange and Maplewood serves close to 7,000 students in ten schools, including one early-childhood center, six elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. The community and its schools are racially and economically diverse with more than 90 percent of Columbia High School graduates planning to attend college each year. The mission of the South Orange Maplewood School District is to empower and inspire each student to explore and imagine, to pursue personal passions, and to collectively create a better future by creating a learner-centered environment through multiple pathways; re-imagined structures, systems and supports; innovative teaching; partnering with families; and maximizing community expertise and resources.