Inside:

4 | Build Understanding, Build Successful Projects

8 | Listening: Market Trends Summary

What makes a building project successful? How can you provide the best learning environments for your students and community in an efficient and well-coordinated manner?

BuildSuccessful Projects

2013 Edition Two

Roger S. Oraze Elementary School // Fresno, CA

Clovis Unified School District

2012 Award of Merit, AIA San Joaquin

School News | 2013 Edition Two

Reno50 W. Liberty Street, Studio 630Reno, NV 89501775 322 9475

Sacramento2495 Natomas Park DriveStudio 665Sacramento, CA 95833916 325 1100

San Diego5935 Cornerstone CourtStudio 300San Diego, CA 92121619 744 4077

Central Valley1827 E. Fir Avenue, Studio 103Fresno, CA 93720559 322 2444

Los Angeles633 W. 5th Street, Third FloorLos Angeles, CA 90071213 542 8300

Ontario3546 Concours StreetOntario, CA 91764909 989 9979

Phoenix1001 N. 3rd Avenue, Studio 2Phoenix, AZ 85003602 575 2055

San Francisco417 Montgomery Street, Eighth FloorSan Francisco, CA 94104415 777 9422

San Jose1570 The Alameda, Studio 330San Jose, CA 95126408 977 9160

School Advisors3546 Concours StreetOntario, CA 91764909 945 6890

What makes a building project

successful? How can you provide the

best learning environments for your

students and community in an efficient

and well-coordinated manner? These

are the questions continually going

through the minds of school district

and county officials—many of whom

have risen through the educational

ranks and are now tasked with

managing a portfolio of properties and

building projects. Seeing the need for

schools and building team members

to better understand each other’s

roles and responsibilities, the Central

Valley Successful Projects Workshops

were developed.

The workshops are an evolution of

facility planner’s meetings, which were

led by the Fresno County Office of

Education. While the facility planner’s

meetings tended to attract smaller

districts, the Central Valley Successful

Projects Workshops are aimed at

greater collaboration with school

districts of all sizes and they include

project team members. The four-

part workshop series brought school

districts, architects and contractors

to the same table to openly discuss

strategies to a successful project.

The goal was to learn how to move

forward with building sustainable

relationships over the long-term,

foresee and overcome roadblocks early

in the process and understand how

getting along advantages everyone for

cost savings and better coordination.

Defining each party’s perspective and

having empathy for their roles and

specific challenges allows the entire

project team to work toward win-win

solutions, rather than disputing decisions

throughout the course of a project.

The workshops were structured in order

of the design and construction process,

focusing specifically on:

Workshop 1: Roadblocks. What

are the things that get in our way?

There is a need to understand how

the roadblocks vary between team

members and how they impact each

other as a collective whole.

Workshop 2: Selecting the team

and negotiating contracts.

Contracts need to be balanced

and there needs to be shared risk

so that all parities can share in the

success of a project. If contracts are

unbalanced, there is an adversarial

relationship from the beginning that

isn’t healthy for a project.

BuildUnder-standing

BuildSuccessfulProjects

Walt ByrdPresidentWH Byrd, Inc.

BY //Jeff BeckerDirector of Facilities and Operations Fresno County Office of Education

Scott Griffith, AIAPrincipal HMC Architects

Build Understanding, Build Successful Projects P//03

Build Understanding,Build Successful ProjectsPage 3

Listening/Market Trends SummaryPage 8

WITHIN EVERY PROJECT, ISSUES WILL ARISE.

IT IS HOW YOU OVERCOME THOSE ISSUES WITH COMMON SENSE ANDCOST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS.

Building long-term relationships was

perhaps the most valuable takeaway

from these workshops. When thinking

about the construction process, one

thing to remember is that every district

is different and there are certainly

lessons that can be learned from

each other—regardless of the size

of the district. By sharing insight and

resources in an open forum, all districts

and counties are empowered with the

tools to get their project done at the

same quality and standards, resulting

in the best possible facilities for their

communities. Those who attended the

workshops expanded their professional

networks and now have a long list

of contacts they can reach out to for

expertise when faced with a project

question or issue.

The Central Valley Successful Projects

Workshops are a unique and evolving

endeavor. The collective group is

providing input into what is most

important to them, what topics do

they want to go deeper into—this is

their meeting! Future session may dive

into specific topics that schools are

facing, like maintenance best practices,

lease-lease-back and preferred

project delivery methods, or building

commissioning. As organizers, we

are bringing the attendees together

and will take the workshops in a

direction that is of value. While

session focuses will change, the

end goal will always remain to

continue open discussions about

how to collectively make the building

process more efficient and effective.

Workshop 3: Using contracts

to resolve issues. The contract

should be a tool when you face

those issues. Think about how

do you resolve them fairly and

equitably to everyone’s satisfaction.

Workshop 4: The construction

process. There are many steps

including putting the project out

to bid, getting it started, building

it and finally close out. Attendees

discussed the value of pre-

construction services and the

implications of contingencies.

P//05School News | 2013 Edition Two P//04

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Walt Byrd

whbyrdinc@comcast.net

Scott Griffith

Scott.Griffith@hmcarchitects.comJeff Becker

jbecker@fcoe.org

ERIC CEDERQUIST, SUPERINTENDENT,

FOWLER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Build Understanding, Build Successful Projects

P//07School News | 2013 Edition Two P//06

An Inside Look atLessons Learned

core values that facilities have a direct

correlation to test scores. Imparting

this philosophy to other districts has

allowed them to also realize that

if they make that commitment to

their facilities, they could also see a

difference too. From my perspective,

I want all districts to succeed. We

hear all the time that it is all about our

kids, but in reality it’s not just about

Clovis Unified students, it is about all

students!

I have also found the workshops

valuable for building a network.

I don’t want to pretend that I

know everything, because I don’t

and sometimes I need a different

perspective. There were a few in the

room that I have known for a while

and some that I just met, but now that

we have been through the workshops

together, I feel comfortable to call and

ask them a question.”

RICK LAWSONDIRECTOR OF CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING, CLOVIS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

A fundamental takeaway from

the workshops is to start earlier.

Assemble your team early, define

your project early, and get everyone

on the same page with the same

understanding as soon as possible.

For us as a County, it starts with the

moment there is a seed of an idea

in someone’s mind that looks like it

has legs and will become a project.

You start thinking about what you

need to do to get a team assembled

and who will be the right players for

that team.

It has been refreshing to experience

all parties’ willingness to be

collaborative and hear that we are

moving in a direction of a common

upfront understanding—one where

we trust each party to do their job

and have the best interest of the

project at heart. School districts

now have a better understanding

of the implications of their project

requests, while architects and

contractors recognize the pressures

The workshops are a meaningful

opportunity for districts and project

team members to network and

expand their knowledge in school

facilities. The discussions are open

and flowing and the venue provides

an opportunity to share, learn and

validate a variety of experiences and

practices. The mix of small and large

districts, as well as architects and

contractors, provides an opportunity

for discussion from very different

perspectives.

Several of my District team members

are also attending the workshops and

appreciate the learning experiences

and interaction with others. Districts,

other agencies, architects, and

contractors of all sizes in this industry

can benefit from becoming more

involved in these workshops to

diversify their knowledge and share

their own experiences.

LISA LEBLANCEXECUTIVE OFFICER, FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Attending all four sessions

personally has been invaluable.

Over and over again one of the

main messages that kept coming

out of the workshops was the

importance of pre-planning and

getting everyone at the table.

I’m fairly new. Coming from

a role as Principal, I had not

experienced the construction

process. I’m now in my third year

as Superintendent and after my

first year, modernization money

came through. While we are very

happy with how the project turned

out, it was a learn-as-you-go

process for me. Looking back after

these workshops, I realized that

the project could have benefited

from getting more input from the

principal, maintenance staff and

other individuals at the school

site from the start. I know a lot

more now about the design and

construction process and going

forward, I would begin pre-planning

early and engage more of our staff in

the process.

RUSSELL FREITASSUPERINTENDENT, FIREBAUGH-LAS DELTAS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

A common theme during

the workshops was how critical

communication, common sense

and understanding everyone’s role

is to the success of a project. Within

every project, issues will arise. It is

how you overcome those issues with

common sense and cost-effective

solutions. These lessons learned will

become building blocks for future

success of projects. An open line of

communication is also important,

especially within our own staff.

Principal and on-site staff can be better

integrated into the planning—in the

end, they are typically the ones who get

calls from the community or parents.

In the past, smaller districts didn’t

always understand that you need a

full project team or recognize the need

to assemble your project team early.

These workshops have changed the

level of expectations for construction

projects as people’s understanding

has matured. There is tremendous

value in pre-construction services and

assembling the team early will result

in fewer contingencies later on in the

project. To truly be successful, you

need someone on the site everyday to

be the eyes and ears of a project.”

ERIC CEDERQUISTSUPERINTENDENT, FOWLER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

It is so important that schools,

architects and contractors to come

together to better understand each

other and deliver better projects. If

a State bond passes in 2014 and

districts expect to receive any of

that funding, then planning for future

modernizations or new facilities should

be underway. School districts might

need to take a bit of a gamble and

spend some reserve money to hire

an architect, get plans drawn up and

through DSA approval. Districts that

hold-off on planning until a state

bond is passed could miss out on

the opportunity to receive funds—

the State will be flooded with a

back-log of projects that are already

DSA approved and seeking money.

If districts plan early, the kids are

the ones who will benefit most.

They will be provided with quality,

environmentally friendly and safe

places to learn.”

DR. TERRY BRADLEYPRESIDENT, SCHOOL BUSINESS CONSULTING OF FRESNO

IF DISTRICTS PLAN EARLY, THE KIDS ARE THE ONES WHO WILL BENEFIT MOST. THEY WILL BE PROVIDED WITH QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND SAFEPLACES TO LEARN. DR. TERRY BRADLEY, PRESIDENT

SCHOOL BUSINESS CONSULTING OF FRESNO

Build Understanding, Build Successful Projects

that school districts goes through on

a day-to-day basis and how school

facilities impact other areas of a

school’s program. Gaining that bigger

understanding of all the parties is a

critical component and uplifting to see.

Together we are all better.”

JEFF BECKER DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS, FRESNO COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION

One of the biggest lessons

learned is that Clovis USD isn’t the end

all be all and there are always ways to

improve upon current processes. I’ve

learned new perspectives from districts

that have different philosophies than

we do. For example, we can learn from

some of the smaller districts on how

they communicate more effectively

with their school site staff. It has been

refreshing to hear different points of

view and their unique challenges—and

the reverse is true too, I’ve been able

to share what has been successful

at Clovis. We are known for our

facilities and strongly believe in our

P//09School News | 2013 Edition TwoP//08 Listening: Market Trends Summary

Reduced funding

California State public schools and

counties are facing some significant

challenges for the foreseeable future.

The State’s economic conditions

have resulted in drastic reductions

in funding affecting operations,

infrastructure, and lower levels of

teaching staff resources and time to

deliver instruction. Consistent with

other State-funded organizations,

California schools have begun the

retooling process to structure their

operations to accommodate less

State funding in their annual budgets

for the foreseeable future.

Overall sentiment among school

administrators is that regardless of

recently passed State tax initiatives

and the future State General

Obligation bond anticipated in 2014,

they must prepare their organizations

for continued erosion of traditional

funding sources. This has resulted

in many school districts initiating/

contemplating local bonds to fund

buildings, maintenance, technology,

and other infrastructure related costs to

offset the reduced funding levels from

the State.

Adapting to new ways of learning

In addition to the operational changes

needed to adjust to the “new norm”

for funding, schools are continuing to

adapt their curriculum to the federally

mandated “common core” requirements

and are challenged to find effective ways

to incorporate technology into their

learning environments while keeping

pace with the way students are learning

outside of the classroom.

The subject of technology in the learning

environment was consistently mentioned

as both a challenge and the solution

to “how to do more with less.” The

challenges were not only associated

with the cost to acquire and implement,

but also around how to select from so

many options; and with new technology

comes the need to train staff, develop an

infrastructure to support new software

programs and hardware, and implement

across large districts with consistency

and equity.

CurrentSituation

01LI

STE

NIN

G During the third quarter of 2012, HMC Architects began a client outreach “Market Survey” to better understand what critical drivers are influencing how our clients deliver on their core mission, and to discern how that translates into how we design the spaces where they conduct business. We asked our survey participants to think about the future and respond with some of the more challenging issues that are keeping them awake at night. The following trends analysis demonstrates we are “Listening” and breaks down the K-12 market into four areas of focus:

01 Current Situation / 02 What Change Is Needed /03 Getting There / 04 Making The Project Work /

South Region Elementary School #9 // Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles Unified School District

2013 Award of Merit, C.A.S.H. // 2012 Award of Excellence, AIA Inland California John S. Nichols AIA REFP, LEED AP BD+C

Principal and PreK-12 Practice Leader, HMC Architects John.Nichols@hmcarchitects.com

BY //

School News | 2013 Edition Two P//10 P//011

School districts have recognized the

new reality from a funding perspective.

Now, how do they adapt to the new

reality? Although school administrators

acknowledge they have downsized

and changed their operations, most

recognize that the change process

has just begun.

Class sizes / flexibility

Reduced funding is currently resulting

in larger class sizes throughout

California; however, districts recognize

that this solution is short term and

that increasing class size using the

current teaching paradigm is already

having negative outcomes. As a result,

districts are planning for adaptability

in their classrooms. Ultimately they

need more flexibility in modulating

classroom environments for the future.

Class sizes will eventually shrink again.

Rely more on local communities

The new paradigm in public schools

is hitting districts on several fronts.

Reduced funding from the State is

requiring districts to rely more on

their local communities for funding,

as well as for other synergistic

opportunities to join with existing

resources (human or capital) to

accomplish mutual benefits with

limited resources. This was noted

through the use of shared facilities

and staff operations support among

districts and local municipalities.

Furthermore, this message is

being clearly communicated by the

California Department of Education

in its recent report on California’s

K–12 Educational Infrastructure

Investments.

Focus on student outcomes

Secondly, the growing acceptance

of technology-assisted learning

Modulated learning

With the proliferation of learning

applications intended to be delivered in

a variety of approaches, forward-thinking

districts are planning for curriculums and

environments that accommodate the

diverse array of options available. Most

of our survey participants acknowledged

that they are planning for students to

incorporate their own computing devices

(tablets, cell phones, or laptops) into the

daily learning platform and many are

already doing this at some level. Bring

Your Own Device (BYOD) is a near-term

reality, so classroom planning must

accommodate how to power these

devices and transmit data within the

classroom and campus environment.

Basic learning of the traditional material

can be delivered via online devices

thereby freeing up the teaching staff to

focus on individual instruction/coaching

and project-based learning activities.

tools, coupled with the shrinking

funds to maintain teacher salaries and

accompanying benefits structure, has

district staff asking difficult questions

about how to leverage technology to

improve outcomes while utilizing new

methods of teaching. However, teachers

unions and collective bargaining

organizations continue to resist changes

that threaten to erode their positions and

benefits within the system. The current

structure is perceived to be designed

around the staff and there needs to be

more emphasis on student outcomes.

Tie funds to improved outcomes

The third element of the new paradigm

in California public schools is the

anticipated change in how funding

will ultimately be administered by the

State. With the State actively lobbying

for more taxpayer dollars to be

committed to public schools, there is

renewed commitment to having those

This hybrid learning environment is

anticipated to enable teachers to better

address larger class sizes by allowing

a portion of the class to receive online

learning while the balance will get more

focused attention by the teacher. At

the same time, the anticipated result is

improved learning results.

Maintenance of schools

For years the State’s system for

applying funds to districts for on-

going maintenance activities has been

woefully underfunded. This was a

consistent theme throughout all interview

participants with no simple resolutions or

ideas coming to the forefront. However,

the discussions did center on a few

basic concepts:

funds tied to improved outcomes for

students. District officials are closely

monitoring this dialogue in Sacramento

and anticipating how they might adapt

their organizations to align with the

new paradigm in funding. Key issues

include “closing the achievement

gap” for underperforming sub-groups,

more rigorous methods of student

engagement, and the use of modulated

instruction to increase student

outcomes.

/ Consolidate and decommission/

dispose of underutilized assets or

lease out marketable facilities to

supplement other capital needs

and/or the general fund

/ Build/remodel to maximize

efficiency and minimize operational

and maintenance costs

/ Better documentation of current

infrastructure and the need

to increase awareness in the

communities that will be called

upon to supplement state funding

deficiencies

GettingThere

What Changeis Needed?

0302

BreakingwithTradition

Listening: Market Trends Summary

School News | 2013 Edition Two P//12

Project delivery methods

The survey participants expressed

limited emphasis on utilizing non-

traditional delivery methods in

constructing and renovating their

facilities. The frequent response

included the reference to the

perception of transparency in the

contracting environment. For most

participants, design-bid-build is the

anticipated model for the foreseeable

future, with some discussing the

use of lease-leaseback as a fallback

method to avoid unscrupulous

contractors.

Sustainable objectives

Within the districts we surveyed, we

received a consistent message that

sustainability was not about LEED,

but more about how to minimize

costs for both the short- and long-

term life cycle of a building. Energy

efficiency was critical given reduced

operating budgets. We also heard that

accomplishing LEED and sustainable

building design is just part of good

architecture and therefore should not be

charged as a premium to the architects’

basic services.

Improving satisfaction

with the A/E/C industry

As an architecture firm with very deep

roots in the K–12 school market,

HMC was particularly intrigued by the

responses we received from our school

clients. After assessing the comments,

we share some of the same concerns. In

general, we heard that the architectural

community is focused on the clients,

but perhaps not focusing on all the

pieces of the problems facing school

administrators today. We were told

that strategies to reduce operational

costs are a top priority and that the

A/E/C industry is having some success

there. However, the industry could be

doing a better job understanding the

linkages between facilities design and

student outcomes. Sometimes there

is a tendency to focus solely on the

traditionally published school building

criteria without attempting to describe

how the design enhances student

outcomes. We are in agreement with

our survey participants that there has

been some erosion in the process

whereby students’ evolving needs have

not remained the highest priority with

the design processes that are currently

utilized. We acknowledge that we can

do a better job on our part to study

student outcomes and to provide more

creative solutions and innovative thinking

that supports the overriding needs of

individual schools in delivering on their

mission to best educate California’s

youth. We also heard our clients

asking for help in better understanding

technology trends in teaching

environments. This was referenced

as an important element for the

future of the school system to aid in

overcoming the significant financial

and performance issues facing our

schools.

Measure of good design

Many of the responses we received

about the value of good design are

closely aligned with the specific

challenges the school districts are

facing today. In our survey we heard

that good design “builds support for

local bond measures;” essentially

demonstrating that local dollars are

being well spent. More specifically

we heard that good design should

be contextual, functional, and easy

to maintain with an emphasis on the

maintenance element. Our clients

know they will continuously be

challenged to upkeep their facilities.

Making theProjectWork.

04