St. Paul Public Schools embarks on five-year renovation plan

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By MARIA HERD

Interactive classroom projectors, security cameras, a remodeled cafeteria and a new artificial turf field are a few of the improvements public schools in the Hamline Midway and Como neighborhoods will see in in the next few years.

Construction will begin this month for the Saint Paul Public School’s (SPPS) five-year facilities master plan. This is after two years of gathering data on 72 schools and facilities and 465 acres of land that belong to SPPS, in addition to collecting input from over 1,000 people who work and study there.

“Most of the work we’re doing this summer is maintenance, bread and butter stuff,” said Tom Parent, the Facilities Director at SPPS, with the exception of Johnson High School in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood.

SPPS Saturday workshop 3All Photos: Saturday workshops were held around the district to develop the five-year plan. (All photos courtesy of the St. Paul Public Schools)

The district has always had long-range maintenance plans, said Parent. But making improvements has been a technical expert focused process in the past. This is the first time that there has been a strategic five-year plan laid out for students and parents.

“This is a change in focus for us as a district to look at things more holistically,” he explained.

According to Parent, security cameras and improving classroom technology were two of the main needs identified across the district. Every school is getting some work related to those areas. Classroom technology includes interactive projectors and distributed sound for better classroom instruction.

“Both of those initiatives are to get every school in the district to a baseline of service for those systems,” he said.

The process

The Facilities Department developed the plan through four phases. The first phase analyzed key data such as demographic trends, student enrollment and building capacities.

SPPS Saturday workshop 1Phase two analyzed costs and the district’s project priorities. One of the biggest challenges in this part of the process was establishing consistency in priorities with such a diverse set of schools built across many decades. Over 90 percent of the buildings are between 30 and 115 years old.

The next step involved taking those priorities and tailoring them to each school.

“How do we take district level aspiration and articulate it at each one of our schools?” said Parent.

Phase three worked to answer that question, and community involvement was a key part.

“This was a process in which we were able to engage the community in having an active voice in how the buildings needed to change in the coming years,” said Parent.

SPPS Saturday workshop 2At first, Parent said he thought that they would hold meetings for the community to give input and “whoever comes, comes, and it will be great.” However, it was quickly realized that “by doing that we’re over-representing some perspectives over others,” he said.

SPPS then put together diverse 20 person committees made up of students, parents, teachers, staff and administrators to identify each school’s needs.

“We were very intentional about having a diverse set of perspectives,” said Parent. “This works best when it’s built on empathy and multiple perspectives from the community.”

Then, SPPS held Saturday morning workshops in which committees worked alongside engineers and architects to decide which improvements were most needed at their schools. Over 800 people participated.

“We don’t need a lot of perspective in the roof being replaced, but educationally and civilly — we need those perspectives,” he said.

Another diverse 65 person committee — that included students, parents, SPPS administrators and District Council and Parks and Rec representatives from across the city — helped throughout the entire process. This committee also helped to prioritize what needs were most important in phase four.

This committee “represented the stakeholders we have here in Saint Paul,” and “really spoke to the breadth of service and need that we have in the district,” said Parent.

To help prioritize needs in phase four, SPPS developed criteria. One of the top priorities listed is to address temporary structures. If a program in a portable building has been successful, said Parent, it’s important to find a permanent space for it.

The criteria also lists enrollment growth, classroom quality, main building entries, building conditions, size and quality of core spaces like gyms and cafeterias. Additional information about prioritization criteria is available online at the SPPS Facilities website.

Athletics

Parent says that the majority of phone calls he receives are requests for upgrades to athletics and that there is enormous pressure to improve those facilities.

“There is a hunger for better athletic facilities throughout St. Paul,” he said.

Space poses a challenge for SPPS in this area. Saint Paul high schools have about a fifth of the space compared to suburban high schools, said Parent.

“Not every school needs everything,” he said. “But, let’s find a way to share the resources we have so that we really see efficiency at the face.”

SPPS analyzed sport participation data and the balance of physical space for competition athletics and physical activity for all.

“We were able to identify inequities and opportunities to increase participation,” said Parent.

Two other high schools in addition Como Park Senior High School will be getting turf fields for the first time. Furthermore, four schools will have their turf replaced in the next five years.

“Our space is so incredibly valuable and utilized so heavily,” said Parent. Turf fields will help utilize that space for as much of the season and as many hours a day possible.

Funding

According to Parent, SPPS has been receiving the same dollar amount for building improvement and maintenance from the state legislature since 1994.

“We have lost 38 cents of each dollar just in inflation,” he said.

By law, that funding must be used for building improvement only. The funds make up four percent of the district’s overall budget. The 2015-16 building construction fund stands at $27.4 million, according to the Facilities website.

For more information, go to http://www.spps.org/Page/22595.

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