District in race to fix schools before construction costs soar

Last year, Seattle voters approved $490 million to fund six school-construction projects across the city: a new Denny Middle School and a new K-8 in Southeast Seattle, and renovations to Hamilton Middle School and Chief Sealth, Ingraham and Nathan Hale high schools.

Several months later, the district hit the gas, speeding up the projects by as much as two years to try to outrun construction inflation. The new schedule would save the district, for example, nearly $14 million on plans for a combined Denny/Sealth campus, according to district estimates. The district believes it could save $10.7 million on the Nathan Hale renovation.

But its rush — and other problems with communication and public outreach — has ignited community conflicts around three of the first projects.

The Seattle hearing examiner recently ruled in favor of Hamilton Middle School neighbors, forcing the district to abandon plans to build a gym adjacent to a park. The district also has pulled back on plans to dig up the Hamilton playfield to install an energy-efficient heating and cooling system.

Complaints from parents and Chief Sealth High School staff have prompted the School Board to re-examine plans to combine Sealth and a new Denny Middle School. Community liaison Eleanor Trainor said the district didn't do enough outreach on the design: School closures were under way at the same time, and the district had few communications staff members.

Meanwhile, parents at Nathan Hale High are concerned about plans to keep kids in the building while it's being renovated, despite asbestos and black mold.

The presence of asbestos — which parents learned about when the school flooded last month — has raised questions about keeping kids in the school, said PTSA Vice President Rick Brandon. Normally the district moves students to another building during construction, but Hamilton Middle School students will be using the North End's extra space in the Lincoln building.

Seattle Public Schools staff members acknowledge the pace is quick — Trainor called it "uncomfortable" — but say it's the best use of public money. The projects' opponents say the district shouldn't be so hasty with hundreds of millions in public funds.

Concern over rising construction costs has affected this batch of projects from the beginning.

In the past, the district has collected capital money by levy, spending it as it came in. Facilities Director Fred Stephens told School Board members they should sell bonds to pay for the projects, giving them access to tax money right away, so the board sent the $490 million bond package to voters last February.

Costs on rise

Construction costs are on the rise internationally because of China's demand for steel and concrete, and regionally because of the condominium-building boom and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

As inflation continued to rise, the district's capital-projects manager, Don Gillmore, sped up his timeline and asked for access to an extra $15 million written into the bond for cost overruns.

"The sooner we can get things purchased, the better off we'll be," Gillmore told the School Board.

The district predicts construction costs will rise 30 percent over the next three years.

Even with a full-time community liaison in the facilities department — Trainor — some members of the public said the district seems rushed and appeared already to have made decisions by the time it asked for community input.

"It's like a panic mode," said Debbie Taylor, a West Seattle parent who opposes plans for a joint Denny/Sealth campus.

"When I first heard about the district's idea, I thought to myself, 'Well, this isn't going to happen very soon, because there isn't anything they do quickly,' so I was actually really taken aback when it came together so quickly."

The School Board is taking the cost escalation into account as it considers what to do at Sealth. Several members seemed to lean toward adding $5 million or $10 million more into improvements at Sealth to satisfy opponents there.

School Board Vice President Michael DeBell said that community buy-in is important but that cost overruns are a real threat.

"It [cost escalation] feels a little bit like being chased by a big bear, you know, it's 2 percent a month. It used to be 4 or 5 percent a year," he said.

"When you have a $500 million construction program, that erodes your ability to get the work done."

Board member Harium Martin-Morris said even if the district did a bad job at outreach, there's probably not time to go back to the drawing board. It's too expensive, he said.

"I mean, you could drag these things out for another two years," he said. "We have to say, 'Did we do enough in this situation?' not 'Did we do the perfect amount?' or 'Did we do just the right amount?'

" 'Did we do enough to move forward with the project?' That's what I'm really looking into."

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com