Buckeye plans to improve scores, buildings this year

from The West Valley View

Things are about to change inside and outside Buckeye Union High School classrooms.

At a special meeting of the BUHSD governing board last week, members mulled over an academic school improvement plan and building plans. The board approved a list of alternate items to be included in Buckeye High’s rebuild project. The “extras” included items such as a tile roof and shade canopies.

Most of the rebuild will be covered by state School Facilities Board funding, although some work on the Buckeye campus and additions to the Estrella Foothills campus will be covered by money from voter-approved bonds.

“They are going to set up a very aggressive work schedule to make up for the month we dragged our feet on this,” Schmitt said.

Among the first projects to be completed are a new vocational agriculture facility and maintenance/bus facility. The plans call for 8,000 square feet of agriculture education classroom space, a barn and a greenhouse. The facility was scheduled to be ready for students this fall.

John Benton, architect for the Orcutt/Winslow Partnership, explained how pressed for time the district is. He recommended contracting with a company called Modular Technology, which builds custom steel frame walls in its own facility and then transports them to sites. The buildings are erected on concrete foundations.

“In terms of scheduling, there is no way this can be beat,” Benton said. “If you walk through one of these buildings, you can’t tell it was modular.”

The modular buildings can have a stucco finish to match the rest of the school.

After discussing the options and hearing the support of Superintendent Schmitt and Benton for Modular Technology, the board voted in favor of contracting with the company.