On October 11, 2023, the Alamogordo Public Schools and School Board will present the plans and details of the new Chaparral Middle School for public questions and comments. It will be a wonderful day to have the current Chaparral demolished and replaced due to its many structural issues. The current building has been the educational home of many in Alamogordo and have many fond memories of walking those halls.
Upon examination of the pictures available, it is a new concept and interesting. However, there have been many pictures in circulation from presentations and the APS website, so it is difficult to know which pictures are the final ones. Therefore, any comments or questions we present are based on existing architectural renderings and common knowledge of the location.
QUESTIONS:
1. A different site for the new Chaparral Middle School was chosen on Fairgrounds Road because of the soil type at the current site making it difficult to build on College Ave. Why has that changed?
2. Is it true the current location of Chaparral Middle School is on Alluvium-type soil causing foundation stability issues? What mitigations will be done to correct this instability that could create the potential for foundation repairs or incidental damage to the structure of the building incurring future major repairs and funds?
3. For security issues, if the pictures of the complex layout are correct, will there be adequate security/resource officers available for coverage?
4. According to the APS website it states, “All Alamogordo Public School campuses have full-time security officers onsite. Each elementary school and Holloman Middle School have 1 security officer, Chaparral & Mountain View Middle Schools have 3 officers, Alamogordo High School has 10 security officers, and there is 1 night officer.” Does that mean there is a TOTAL of 3 officers covering the middle schools or 3 officers for EACH middle school? As an estimate according to the above count of security/resource officers, APS 1 preschool, 9 elementary schools, and 1 high school. For the minimum coverage listed on the APS site that would be a minimum of 23 full-time security/resource officers and 1 night security officer. Or a maximum of 26 full-time and 1 night security/resource officers APS has for coverage. How many are employed at the current time?
5. What are the qualifications and job descriptions of all levels of these security/resource officers?
The lighting and window environment are open and inviting. It is nice to have natural light in any environment whether it be work, home, or school. However, is it a safe environment post-Columbine? The Scope of Work requested “plenty of glass.” Does that translate to beauty over safety? Student safety is a necessary consideration and a basic requirement.
In researching window safety, this is what was found after discussing it with two different companies – one in this state and one in Michigan. There are basically two common safety glass types used for windows, tempered and laminated. Tempered shatters like a windshield to prevent shards of glass from injuring nearby people. Laminated does not shatter but stays in place. When windows are broken it prevents the glass from shattering and cutting people nearby. These types of glass are NOT ballistic glass and therefore not protective.
The ballistic glass comes in two basic forms. One is Lexguard or other similar brands. In order to protect against a .44 magnum shot, the “glass” would be approximately 1 ¼” thick and requires special construction considerations of window frames. It also weighs approximately 7.7 lbs per square foot and is expensive.
The “bullet resistant” which is also known as “bulletproof” glass that can protect against rifle shots is 1.283” thick and weighs 15.61 lbs per square foot thus is difficult to use in a second-story application due to weight. There are also special construction considerations involving window frames. This type of glass is even more expensive.
Everyone wants a new building to replace the current Chaparral Middle School. Safety is a concern. Children should not be open targets nor parents concerned about the open environment that is possibly non-protective.
Please think about these issues if you are planning to attend the meeting at Chaparral Middle School on October 11, 2023, at 6 p.m. Input is valuable and should be accepted as that from concerned parents and community members. This input would have been productive in the pre-design stages.
ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS
In the information on the APS website, there are several architectural firms listed: Lake Flato Architects, Studio Southwest Architects, and Surroundings Studio. Another one provided services in a School Board meeting called DPS Designs – Dekker, Perich, and Sabatini although not listed in the APS announcement. Why so many architects? How many millions did they spend on all of these architects? One architect alone billed over 1 million dollars. Think about that.
GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS – Information from DPS Designs Presentation to School Board
New construction projects listed:
1. Desert Star Elementary School $5,921,564
2. Sunset Hills Elementary School $7,136,271
3. Holloman Elementary School $11,512,155
4. CHAPARRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL $16,363,590 ???
THE CHAPARRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL CONTRACT – Click here
“The Scope of Work includes planning and design of a new replacement middle school facility that is 87,035 total square feet, for a design capacity of 658 students, grades 6-8. Design shall include the following key elements: Programming (site selection and investigation), Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Bidding, Construction Administration, design of demolition plan for existing facility, and 12-month Warranty Inspection. The project team shall include as a minimum: Architectural, Engineering, and any other design consultants as may be required. This school should be designed to accentuate the natural landscape of Alamogordo with focus on an open architecture plan with plenty of glass incorporated. This must be a modern facility suited to the technological and safety needs of today’s students and staff. The replacement school should draw on the rich history of the areas Aerospace and rustic southwest background. This campus will need to be utilized to be conducive to middle school learning and community use. Alamogordo Public Schools envisions this campus to be the “Crown Jewel” of the community. Scope of Work to be performed by the Design Professional shall include any necessary services for a school facility to be fully operational for the intended use.”
“Maximum Allowable Construction Cost that does not include gross receipts tax (MACC):
The Project’s not to exceed MACC $27,851,200.00″
In a recent School Board meeting Colleen Tagle commented they had to reduce the project by 20,000 square feet. You think? Anyone who came up with the above Scope of Work had to be uninformed or “Shrine building” just waiting for a plaque with their names on it.
As you can see, there appear to be “delusions of grandeur” involved in the design of this school…a shrine to whom? The continued waste of funds by APS through irresponsible spending is exemplified in the above Scope of Work and the multitude of architectural firms involved. Although, hopefully, this may not be the final price, since Supt. Moore and Colleen Tagle said repeatedly they needed 10 million dollars more, we will have to find out the final cost. Also, the added cost of modification/design changes can add up quickly. To be sure there have been many changes to date during this phase. As of now, the construction is more than a year late in getting started despite the desperate condition of the current Chaparral Middle School. This has been blamed on Covid. Perhaps that is not the case. Zoom meetings happened frequently during that time and could have been utilized as many businesses and organizations did. The real reason is probably otherwise.
Spending taxpayers’ money should be undertaken wisely and not used on “shopping sprees!” Could this be another abuse of funds? Where is the School Board’s oversight? Why have they not exercised their judgments? Then again, maybe they have by allowing this waste of funds to continue with nothing to show for it for years since the General Obligation Bonds passed 4 years ago. Think about it.
Have you had enough yet?
Please Like, Share and Follow us on NewsBreak.
