Dear Friends,
Over the last two school years, the residents of the City of Mount Vernon have approved a $108 million bond project that would support the implementation of the 20/20 Vision. This vision will develop 21st Century schools and will ensure our students graduate from Mount Vernon college and career ready.
As with any building project of this magnitude, the 20/20 Vision and the work needed to support its implementation have flexed and changed over the last 18 months, probably causing some confusion in the community.
As the newly elected President of the Board of Education of the Mount Vernon City School District, I wanted to take this opportunity to convey to you, that the 20/20 Vision is on track for implementation, as scheduled for the fall of 2020.
This Board of Education, together with the Administration is reaffirming our commitment to you to ensure that the work related to the bond is completed both on time and on budget.
Over the course of the last year, our Buildings & Grounds Committee has worked diligently to address some of the most dire needs of the school district, while simultaneously, preparing our schools for the changes necessary for the 20/20 Vision. As new needs were identified they were added to the project list.
As we begin to prepare for some of the biggest projects of the bond, it has become evident that our wish list would exceed our available resources. This was not a surprise. We knew all along that $108 million would only be a down payment on the sizable amount of work that needs to be done throughout the district.
I directed the Administration to prepare a list of all projects either proposed, in progress or completed that would require funding from the 2016 bond. The funding exceeded resources by some $19.2 million. To move forward with all these projects, as proposed, it would require a significant increase in the property tax levy.
That said, with finite resources, and an expectation that the projects are completed with fidelity, the following adjustments were needed to ensure the 20/20 Vision is implemented both on time and on budget.The following five projects have been reviewed and adjusted accordingly to ensure that the appropriate funds are available to fully implement the 20/20 Vision. These changes are:
- Pennington fields - The project has been eliminated, saving $4.6 million
- Grimes School addition - The scope of the project has been reduced, saving $4.648 million
- Pennington land purchase has been eliminated, saving $1.3 million
- Parker School Pre-K addition - The scope of the work has been reduced, saving $5.5 million
- Mandela Pre K-8 conversion - The scope of this project has been reduced by $3.2 million
These changes represent an adjustment in bond spending by $19.249 million. We are confident that these reductions will have no impact on our ability to deliver the 20/20 Vision as promised.
These recommendations are not intended to reflect an opinion about the value of these projects. Rather, it is a reflection of our thoughts about how we can deliver the 20/20 Vision with fidelity and keep the cost within the approved $108 million.
A complete list of ALL buildings projects can be found on our website. I encourage you to review the projects and become familiar with the great work taking place here in Mount Vernon.
I look forward to frequently communicating with you about the status of our building projects and the implementation of the 20/20 Vision.
Sincerely,
Adriane G. Saunders
President, Board of Education
Construction Projects
