Foothills Focus
December 10, 2003

Deer Valley Unified School District seeks space solution for schools
Part II in a two-part series

Alan Richardson

ANTHEM – Deer Valley Unified School District officials are seeking a solution to resolve critical overcrowding at Gavilan Peak School in Anthem.  The school, where parents complained bitterly about overcrowding at the start of this school year, is expected to nearly double in the number of students by the 2005 school year.

Associate Superintendent, Kent Davis, explained that Gavilan Peak could expect to hit enrollment of over 2,300 within two years if something isn’t done to alleviate the situation.  On Tuesday, December 9, the DVUSD Governing Board is expected to approve the use of about $5 million in unused bond money to purchase … a modular school in Anthem.

Since Gavilan Peak is expected to have over 1,700 students for the start of the next school year, it’s important to the district that another school is available earlier than the 2005 school year, which is when the third elementary school is expected to be opened in Anthem.  The district can construct the modular school in time for an August 2004 opening on the same site as the planned fourth elementary school for the Anthem community, on the west side of Interstate 17.  When the third school is opened in 2005, the modular school can be packed up and moved to another site where additional schoolrooms are necessary.  This “traveling” school would then be moved to other locations where growth is exceeding the district’s approval from the School Facilities Board to build a new school.

These buildings are not the well-known “portable buildings” used for many years by the education community to provide additional classrooms.  Those building were often drafty and expensive to maintain.  They detracted from the school environment, looking more like giant wooden boxes on wheels than a school.  The new modular buildings are nearly indistinguishable from a standard constructed school.

The only difference is, they are easily moved to a new site.  That was one of the goals of Modular Technology, the company that is already building three such buildings for Gavilan Peak School.  The company, located just north of East Deer Valley Road on 16th Street, has built its reputation over the past 20 years in developing superior construction with excellent materials in a minimum of time.

Headed by Mike Morton, the team of experts in the modular building industry can take a concept, design it, complete site preparation, and concurrently construct the building that will sit on the site.  Morton, and his team of Doug Hensley, VP Sales, Joe Lundeen, VP of Design and Engineering, and others took The Foothills Focus on a tour of their plant along with DVUSD Chief Financial Officer, Bill Maas.

Said Morton, “ We construct commercial buildings”.  He added, “The difference is, we can break our buildings into modules and move them.”  Morton noted, “It takes about ten days after moving the building to a site to have it ready for use.”  He specified that there were two requirements for the classroom buildings Modular Technology constructs, “We want it identical to a regular classroom and the building must be easily and cost effectively moved.”

Morton noted that Modular Technology has built a lot of schools, and described his buildings as a “learning environment”.  The outside of the buildings can be placed at ground level and have facades of different types and different window solutions, making them look permanent when ready for use.

Modular Technology uses steel construction and a concrete floor to provide a building life cycle equal to, or greater, than site built construction.  The difference, they construct the buildings at their plant and truck them to the school site.  There, the buildings are connected, utilities are linked, interior drywall and fixtures are finished and the buildings are ready for occupancy.  The process is reversed when the classrooms need to be moved.

According to staff at Modular Technology, moving the buildings does not affect interior walls, electrical and plumbing or exterior surfaces.  They have moved such buildings as far away as New Jersey by truck.

A three dimensional steel structural frame helps to ensure the structural integrity.  The modular system uses 6” steel studs at 16” center to assure straight and plumb walls.  Continuous steel angle is welded to foundation plates at all exterior walls.  Because of the strength and integrity of the steel structure, exterior materials may include masonry and rock.

According to Bill Maas and Kent Davis, this solution provides DVUSD with classroom space for a rapidly growing school district that can be reasonably moved from one part of the sprawling 367 square mile district to another, as student demands require.  It will give the Deer Valley Unified School District what Davis calls a “growth school”.