Chandler school board OKs funds for ‘reimagining’ elementary projects
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Chandler Unified Governing Board Vice President Barb Mozdzen speaks at the Feb. 26 meeting. The board decided to approve a nearly $5 million contract extension with Concord General Contracting for five “reimagining” elementary school projects, with board member Kurt Rohrs abstaining from the 4-0 approval.
A contractor will still get paid for five Chandler Unified School District “reimagining” elementary school remodeling projects — though the board approval of the contract wasn’t unanimous.
In fact, it wasn’t even clear if all five CUSD Governing Board members fully understood which projects were in a contract they approved 4-0 at their Feb. 26 regular meeting.
Board member Kurt Rohrs abstained from a vote to approve a nearly $5 million increase to a previously approved agreement with Concord General Contracting.
“Given the circumstances, we might want to slow down on this a little bit,” Rohrs said. “We might need this money for other reasons if we can’t raise it from the community.”
The board voted last summer — at its final June meeting before the end of fiscal 2024 — to approve an estimated $3 million contract with Concord for projects at Conley, Sanborn, Frye and Hull elementary schools. The district is requesting approval of an additional $4.914 million to bring the new contract total to about $7.915 million “for the rollover of four reimagining projects to the 2024-25 school year,” according to a staff report.
One of those projects involved remodeling Frye Elementary to create a central media arts center that’s much more multi-media-focused than a traditional school library.
But those projects have drawn criticism from Rohrs, some public speakers at meetings and others in the community. That criticism heated up once one of CUSD’s largest-scale “reimaginations” — a complete rebuild of Galveston Elementary — ballooned to more than $32 million so far.
The Galveston project ate up a sizable fraction of the district’s $290 million 2019 bond funds, which are now nearly depleted. Voters soundly rejected a proposed $487 million bond last November.
The work at Conley, Sanborn, Frye and Hull elementary schools has already been completed.
Board members appeared confused after Tom Dunn, the district’s director of support services, mentioned work planned to begin soon at Shumway Elementary School.
“We do have a fifth project — at Shumway — that will be performed by Concord if this increase is approved,” Dunn told the board.
Shumway isn’t mentioned at all in the agenda item, nor is there a contract or an amendment attached to the staff report. Dunn said he believes the Shumway work, set to begin in March over spring break, totals about $1.8 million.
Dunn said with the blanket approval of the estimated contract amount having taken place during the 2023-24 budget year, the approvals for the five projects were grouped under a new fiscal 2024-25 contract number.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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