New classrooms heading to Hart district next year

Other additions to be installed include restrooms, work rooms and storages

Through a lease-leaseback agreement, the Hart district is preparing two junior high schools for approximately 47 new prefabricated classrooms to replace and expand campuses, but they won’t be ready for this school year.

Teachers at Placerita and Sierra Vista junior high schools have been working in temporary buildings for decades and are excited to move into something more permanent, said Jayme Allsman, Hart District Teachers Association president.

“It will be like a real community,” she said, adding they will have neighbors. Allsman could not remember a time when she and other teachers at Placerita were not in portable classrooms.

The new classrooms will be ready for use by fall 2017, said William S. Hart Union High School District spokesman Dave Caldwell.

Placerita Junior High School will receive 15 classrooms, while Sierra Vista will receive 20. Aside from traditional classrooms, teacher collaboration classrooms will also be installed as a place where teachers can come together for training and professional development, Caldwell said.

Restrooms, work rooms and storage rooms will be installed as well.

Classrooms are being fabricated by Growth-Point Structures for about $8.8 million. Measure SA, a school bond that was approved in 2008, is paying for them.

The 960-square-foot adaptive metal structures offer open space with smart technology capability. They are sustainable and affordable as well as strong and durable.

The classrooms have a framing system that is built 106 times stronger than building codes require and is made of tempered glass. It is made from 85 percent reclaimed materials and is made for low energy consumption.

Balfour Beatty Construction LLC will soon begin to prepare the sites by laying the foundations and getting utilities ready for the installation of the classrooms once a price is negotiated.

With the lease-leaseback agreement, the Hart district will lease the land to Balfour Beatty Construction for a minimum of $1 during the construction period. The contractor will then return the land to the district when the work is complete.

“If we do everything right, this is the most cost-effective way,” said Rob Hall, Hart district board president.

There will be no surprise in cost because a maximum guaranteed price will be set, Hall said.