Members of the PSD Board of Education,
My name is Michael Spearnak and I retired from PSD in 2014 after nearly 25 years of service. I was PSD’s District Architect and Director of Planning, Design, and Construction. My team of construction/planning professionals and I successfully managed hundreds of complex projects affecting every school in the District, funded through bond initiatives (1996, 2000) as well as the general fund. These projects included land acquisition, remodels, additions, air conditioning, infrastructure retrofits, as well as new elementary, middle, and high schools. Fossil Ridge HS, Kinard MS, and Zach ES (and the prototypes that followed) were designed and built on my watch.
Here’s a sample of our work from the Journal of Green Building:
https://jgb.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/jgrb/1/1/article-p21.xml
Having served on past committees recommending school closures, here are some thoughts:
There are typically two sides of the house, if you will, in school district bureaucracies: Administration/Education and Operations.
Imagine that on the Administration side of the house, the superintendent and cabinet positions have been eliminated and when asked for guidance on educational issues, the BOE hears from Operations - experts on transportation, facilities, custodial, and construction issues.
Now imagine the reverse. Operations leadership has been eliminated and when asked for guidance on facility issues, the BOE hears from the Administration - experts on HR, finance, and educational issues. No need to imagine this scenario - this is the current situation at PSD.
Assertions by the Administration that Timnath ES would have to be “shut down for a year or more” for renovations, along with misinformation regarding ADA improvements and code compliance, clearly demonstrate gross ignorance of the facility renovation process. Being advised by an Administration accountant and “master planner” on complex facility issues is like relying on your health insurance provider for medical advice rather than your doctor.
During my tenure, we completed many complicated renovation projects (including at Timnath Elementary) without closing schools. The Timnath renovations cited are over a ten-year period - easily manageable in the right hands. The elevator project was shovel-ready several years ago and and no one can tell the Board why a multi-million dollar project was canceled or where the money went? Incompetence at best, at worst, malfeasance.
Where are the District facility/construction professionals advising the BOE?
Over the last several years, PSD Operations leadership positions have been left vacant or, worse, filled by those lacking the leadership skills and expertise to effectively advocate for solutions alternative to those proposed by the Administration. Currently there is no executive director of Operations, no facilities director, no director of construction/planning, no architect. Once led by highly skilled industry professionals, Operations now has no voice in the room.
PSD Operations used to be nationally recognized as the gold standard for best practices. Along with influencing the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, CSU, and other Colorado school districts, school districts from Alaska to Tennessee reached out to PSD as a source of best practices. PSD’s operational excellence was recognized by the US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, American Institute of Architects, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, American Assoc. of School Administrators, CO Governor’s Office, City of Fort Collins, Larimer County just to name a few.
Leaving the management of millions of square feet of facilities in the hands of bureaucrats and accountants has consequences - and our community is paying the price.
Though it is clear that some facilities must be closed, let’s get all the voices in the room. Closing schools to save money is the least creative, most community-destructive solution available. Just like designing award-winning green schools, finding creative solutions to real problems takes vision, leadership, expertise, and perhaps most importantly, collaboration.
Michael Spearnak, Architect
PSD District Architect and Director of Planning, Design, and Construction - Retired
