Delays no longer a problem for Lodi school relocation
Despite talk of possible delays earlier this month, the project to move Joe Serna Jr. Charter School from its current Lodi campus to the Houston School campus in Acampo will move forward as originally planned.
The Lodi Unified School District Board of Education voted in May 2018 to move Serna from its current location on Central Avenue — citing concerns about Serna’s campus such as overcrowding, narrow stairwells and a kindergarten class being taught in the basement — to Houston’s campus in Acampo. The two schools will share the Acampo campus.
The school board learned at a May 7 meeting that installing a new fire suppression water tank at Houston School and connecting an electrical main to a new switch gear may be delayed until August or early September, instead of mid-July as originally scheduled.
The switch gear would have been delayed as the contractor hired to complete the project has not yet received a response from Pacific, Gas and Electric Co. — the only entity that can perform the necessary electrical work — but Leonard Kahn, LUSD’s chief business officer, said during Tuesday’s meeting that the portable classrooms can be temporarily connected to an existing electric panel.
Additionally, Kahn said, a temporary water tank can be used — along with fire overwatch — until a permanent tank can be installed.
“As such, there is no delay anymore,” Kahn said. “I believe we can deliver on the original plan.”
The district will move five portable classrooms from Serna’s current campus to Houston School and purchase one new portable classroom and one new portable office to accommodate the Serna program until 18 classrooms are available at the Acampo campus.
Although School Board member Susan Macfarlane was glad to hear that the project will not be delayed, she asked Kahn if the students, teachers and parents at both schools have been informed.
“We are seven days away from the end of the year, and if I was a teacher or parent, I would be very concerned,” Macfarlane said.
Board President Gary Knackstedt was also excited to learn that the project will proceed as originally planned.
“This is great news,” Knackstedt said. “Everybody should be breathing a sigh of relief.”
Although he shared his fellow board members’ excitement, Board member Courtney Porter asked that Kahn provide weekly updates on the project to allow the district to identify and correct any potential problems that may arise in the future.
“I have my concerns, and anything that you can do to alleviate me — and more importantly those kids and their parents — would be greatly appreciated,” Porter said.
Aaron Lange, a Serna parent, thanked the school board and district staff for their work to get the project back on track before echoing Porter’s request for transparency, requesting that a standing agenda item be added for all future board meetings until the project is completed.
“We still have a lot of work left to be done,” Lange said. “We want to be accountable and vigilant in tracking those milestones.”