A Blueprint for Disaster: The True Tale of the CCUSD Capital Improvement Projects

Karlo Silbiger

I sat through over an hour of impassioned speeches last night, as nearly 100 members of the community complained to school district officials and their contracted architect about a myriad of design aspects related to the proposed new sports complex. Should additional parking be created in a lot on site (and off street)? Should that lot be smaller and solely for handicapped guests or should it be larger with room for all? Should it be attached to an existing lot or separated with 3 new entrances? Should new rules be enforced for groups renting that space requiring them to monitor parking in the neighborhood? Should there be 2 practice fields or 1? Should part of the solar project be housed at this end of the campus above a carport rather than on roofs way down on Elenda?

As I listened silently, doing my elected official duty to hear from my constituents, I kept thinking, “How in the world did we get here?” How is it possible that we are only hearing from the community on these basic, central issues after nearly 1 year of discussing this project? How is it possible that so much time and energy has been spent on a series of projects with little discernable advancement in their road to completion? And most importantly, how can we fix a public process so backwards, so mangled, that it is the worst that I have seen in my years of watching Culver City government?

Let’s go back to the beginning. For many years, Culver City’s school district has been sitting on millions of dollars of capital improvement money, specifically designated for improvements to our facilities. Late last year, the school board asked our then Interim Superintendent to survey employees and parents about needed improvements at each site. Based on that list, the board decided to focus on 3 projects (in no particular order):

1. 2 new elevators at the middle and high schools to bring us into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act



2. Safety and cosmetic renovations at the Robert Frost Auditorium



3. The installation of a synthetic football field to address both safety and maintenance cost issues.

I also asked that we consider using the money to renovate the old natatorium in order to convert it from storage to a usable space (my idea was to move Culver Park High School over, creating more space for El Marino) and to install solar panels that would bring millions of dollars in energy savings to the general fund. While my colleagues rejected both ideas, they soon relented on the solar panels after repeated advocacy by myself and many district parents.

The community was thrilled. The athletes were getting a better facility, the performing artists were getting a better facility, the environmentalists were addressing a waste of energy, and the entire student body was receiving a respite from disastrous budget cuts due to the additional money coming into the general fund. However, we will soon celebrate the 1 year anniversary of that important first step and I’m both sad and mystified as to how almost no tangible steps have been taken to get these projects built.

Some of it is not our fault. The state bureaucracy (including the all-important Division of the State Architect) moves as an almost glacial pace. The need to hire a Superintendent and then take a short summer recess has taken everyone’s attention slightly off of this issue. And the fact that we are a small district with really no staff members knowledgeable enough to manage projects of this size and scope have forced us to hire consultants, a process that always slows down the pace, if done correctly.

However, that is only a part of the problem. The bulk of the blame lies with the school board and our staff. We screwed this up.

Check the Culver City Progress Blog next week for part II.

Karlo Silbiger is the Co-Editor of the Culver City Progress Blog, the Vice-President of the Culver City School Board, and the President of the Culver City Democratic Club.