Citizens' Oversight Committee Community Report December 2003

Dear Community Members:

The Citizens’ Oversight Committee (COC) presents this report to the community on the progress of the Building for Success program, which is funded by Proposition U, the $198 million local facilities bond measure to modernize 24 older schools in the Poway Unified School District.

The COC has continued its mission of monitoring and oversight of the program through regular meetings, site tours, and updates from the program management team and PUSD’s facility staff.
Specific activities included:

Reviewing and receiving the annual independent 2004/2005 fiscal year Performance and Financial Audits for the Program in November 2005. No discrepancies were noted.
Performing site visits to schools under construction, including Midland and Westwood Elementary, and Mt. Carmel and Rancho Bernardo High Schools.
Receiving schedule and cost updates on projects in design and under construction. These included reports from PUSD staff on their successful efforts to find additional funding for the projects and on procurement strategies to manage the increased costs of construction.
Attending monthly Board of Education meetings.

With the completion of Westwood Elementary and the occupancy of Midland Elementary, we have seen the promised results of the Building for Success program become a reality. The accelerated timeline continues with six schools in construction ( 134 construction contracts valued at $114 million) and another ten schools in various phases of design and state approval. Lessons learned in the original four projects are being applied to current and future school renovations. The COC will continue to keep you updated on the progress of the program in future community reports.

Sincerely,
Kathy Frost

Citizens’ Oversight Committee Chair

Two New Members of the Citizens Oversight Committee

John Sturla of Poway and Gerald Ricks of Rancho Peñasquitos are the newest members of the Citizens Oversight Committee. They were chosen from a field of 25 candidates who applied for the volunteer positions. John Sturla is a principal architect and project manager at the University of California San Diego. He has been involved with the San Diego Architectural Foundation, the Orchids & Onions Community Awareness Program and the American Institute of Architects.

Gerald Ricks is a project executive for Turner Construction in San Diego and has 30 years of experience in construction management. He has three children who graduated from Mt. Carmel High School. Ricks has been a soccer coach and swim official. He also has been active with school booster clubs.

John and Gerald fill the seats held by Chrissa Corday and Lee Dulgeroff, whose terms expired in March 2006. Chrissa and Lee were among the seven original members of the Citizens Oversight Committee. We thank them for all their valuable input and time. Read more about the seven members of the committee at http://www.powayusd.com/news/coc/members.htm

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