Placing Finishing Touches Across the District
Des Moines Public Schools is not only the state’s largest provider of k-12 education, it’s also one of the older districts. With 70 buildings averaging 65 years old, renovations are needed annually to modernize classroom space, make schools accessible to more students and make them more secure.
“When originally constructed, schools were built for public access (not with current trends of increased security or technology in mind) and did not have air conditioning. Many building code and ADA changes are necessary when we renovate,” said Chief Operations Officer Bill Good. “There’s also insufficient technology infrastructure to meet the current needs of our students.”
In the process of updating we’re building schools to run more efficiently, with an eye toward saving millions of dollars in future operating costs. For example, last year’s installation of air conditioning and renovation at Lincoln Rails Academy realized a 64.30% reduction in energy costs there.
“Optimizing our community resources is a high priority with each of our projects,” according to Good.
District-wide, 12.10% less energy was used in fiscal year ’15 over ’14. Out of 70 buildings, 40 have geothermal heating/AC systems, using the ground’s natural temperatures to either cool or warm circulating lines to the building. Forty-six of those buildings are ENERGY STAR rated.
The money for our “Students First” capital improvements projects comes from a statewide one-cent sales tax that is distributed annually to each school district based on enrollment. The program generates an average of about $25 million every year for DMPS.
Here are the projects at or near completion as school gets underway this week:
Aviation Technology facility – $2.9 million – Built to house the aviation technology program after our lease with the airport was terminated.
McKee Education Center $5.2 million– Mechanical, electrical, technology and security infrastructure upgrades, and parking.
Ruby Van Meter – $6.4 million – Improved accessibility, security and technology upgrades, eliminated open classrooms.
Moore Elementary – $6.6 million – Heating/cooling and electrical renovation, classroom modernization and new gymnasium addition. Technology and security upgrades.
Perkins Elementary – $1.7 million – New, 2-story classroom addition, more restrooms, technology and security upgrades.
River Woods Elementary – $1.9 million – New addition to replace mobile classrooms, provide additional restrooms, technology and security upgrades.
Smouse Opportunity School – $5.6 million – Mechanical, electrical, technology and security infrastructure upgrades. This is partially funded by the Smouse trust fund.
Walnut Street School – $3 million – Renovating old office space into classroom space for expanding International Baccalaureate World school. Technology and security infrastructure upgrades.
