SPECIAL REPORT: How $822 Mil in Construction Projects Add up in Capo Unified

Originally published 9:47 p.m. Nov. 19, 2013.

The Capistrano Unified School District has $822 million in repairs and upgrades needed across all of its 55 campuses, the school board learned earlier this month. But how did officials arrive at that number?

In 2009, a district-hired architect presented the fruits of an extensive effort to examine each and every campus in the 195-square-mile school district.

At the time, when added altogether, the district anticipated just less than $800 million in repairs and upgrades. Updated for 2013 pricing, that number grew to $822 million with a slightly different scope, said Clark Hampton, deputy superintendent of business services.

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To see the specific needs in your town, check out the following stories:

School needs in Aliso Viejo

School needs in Dana Point and Laguna Niguel

School needs in Ladera Ranch

School needs in Mission Viejo

School needs in Rancho Santa Margarita

School needs in San Clemente

School needs in San Juan Capistrano

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When added together, the actual construction costs total $633 million, but the district added another 20 percent, or $126.5 million, for “soft costs,” the costs of engineering, legal fees, financing and other pre- and post-construction costs. Adding on a 10 percent contingency, the total comes to $822,383,811.

However, district officials estimate they only have about $44 million to address the needs.

The Board of Trustees is expected in December to discuss starting a few projects and how to fund the rest.

New for 2013, officials added technology upgrades to better prepare students for the 21st century. Those would cost $43.3 million in all.

But district staff also reduced the number of portable classrooms to be replaced. While the original plans envisioned replacing every portable classroom with a permanent structure, the $822 million plan calls for half that, for a savings of $215 million, Hampton said.

“It is not typical for a school district to completely replace every portable as portable classrooms are meant to provide a cost-effective way to address peaks in enrollment,” says a district staff report.

The numbers represent a Cadillac approach, according to the original 2009 report by WLC Architects. Not only would the work include modernization, routine maintenance that has been put off and address safety concerns, it would also look at bringing up the schools to state standards. For example, gymnasiums are now built with middle schools but few Capo Unified middle schools have one.

The 2009 review uncovered safety issues at several schools. For example, structural safety issues were found at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, San Clemente High – both the upper and lower campuses – George White Elementary and Niguel Hills Middle School in Laguna Niguel, and R.H. Dana Elementary and R.H. Dana Exceptional Needs Facility in Dana Point.

Fourteen schools were identified as having limited access for firefighters. What this means, according to the report, is that trucks are obstructed by buildings and play equipment and “cannot maneuver to provide adequate coverage in case of a fire.”

Those schools are:

• Crown Valley Elementary in Laguna Niguel (nearly 30,000 square feet)
• San Clemente High (24,000 square feet)
• San Juan Elementary in San Juan Capistrano (20,000 square feet)
• Castille Elementary in Mission Viejo (19,000 square feet)
• Moulton Elementary in Laguna Niguel (15,000 square feet)
• Marco Forster Middle in San Juan Capistrano (15,000 square feet)
• Barcelona (now occupied by charter school Oxford Preparatory Academy) in Mission Viejo (14,000 square feet)
• Viejo Elementary in Mission Viejo (13,000 square feet)
• Del Obispo Elementary in San Juan Capistrano (7,500 square feet)
• Dana Hills High in Dana Point (6,200 square feet)
• Ambuehl Elementary in San Juan Capistrano (3,800 square feet)
• Niguel Hills (2,800 square feet)
• George White (1,900 square feet)
• Concordia in San Clemente (1,600 square feet)
• Bergeson Elementary in Laguna Niguel (800 square feet)