New Director to Oversee Bond Measure

At its Thursday night meeting, the school board approved the creation of the positions of bond program director and district architect.

This step means that for the first time, there will be a dedicated staff member overseeing the school construction being funded by the $162 million Measure J bond voters passed last November.

The bond program director will be a district employee, paid out of bond funds, who oversees the construction schedule and budget. The bond program director will directly oversee the work of Bond Program Manager Swinerton Management and Consulting and solar program contractor Chevron.

Up to this point, SIM Architects has served as interim bond liaison while the board has decided on a management structure. SIM's contract was originally set to expire on June 30, but the board extended it for up to six months.

According to outgoing Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, Jonathan Barth, SIM's role is similar to the new position of district architect. The district architect will be a outside contractor, and SIM will have the chance to bid on the job.

The bond program director will report to the assistant superintendent of business services, according to a bond management organization chart also approved by the board. Trustee Liza Normandy abstained from that vote, saying that she would like to bring the organization chart back before the board at a future date to iron out staff responsibilities.

After the board voted to approve these positions, Trustee Philip Weise rose to his feet and said, "Yay!"

"We have made major progress," Weise said.