Experience With State/Local Agencies
Division of the State Architect
We have extensive experience and success in working with DSA, particularly with the San Diego and Los Angeles offices. Because of our strong and mutually respectful relationship with DSA, we have helped numerous districts meet critical schedules that otherwise would not have been met.
Pueblo Elementary School By partnering early on with DSA, we established a two-submittal process on this “Big Box” conversion of a market building into two elementary schools. The shell was initially approved, allowing construction to proceed while the tenant improvement drawings were being completed and approved as the 2nd part of the process.
Seismic Safety Commission Speaker Along with the Regional Manager of the LA office of DSA, we presented our experience and knowledge in the retrofit of buildings and in the application of the Field Act. Our recommendations and comments were incorporated into the Commission’s AB16 Final Report.
OPSC Experience/State Funding Expertise
Tom Blurock, FAIA is widely acknowledged as an expert on school funding. He has worked with many districts, including hardship, to leverage their eligibility by crafting funding strategies and thus significantly increasing construction budgets.
Long Beach Unified School District IBI / Blurock's master plan for renovation of all five high schools was the first in the state to take advantage of the Roos Act, which provided additional funding for urban school projects under previous legislation. Blurock prepared a detailed economic analysis and negotiated with OPSC and the Implementation Committee of the SAB to establish new funding formulas that accurately represented the costs of high-density urban school projects. The conclusions of the analysis became part of the official regulations of the Roos Act.
International Elementary School, Long Beach IBI / Blurock worked with OPSC to take advantage of state laws that were used to gain additional funding for the building, in lieu of additional acquisition of expensive downtown property. The result was an award winning project brought on line 30 months from the start of design.
California Department of Education
As California school specialists, we have worked extensively with CDE. As urban school architects, we have participated in CDE presentations where our projects were presented as case studies for urban schools and the conversion of non-Field Act compliant buildings to public school use. We regularly assist our school district clients in completing the required documentation for site and school approval, including the 4.07 and 4.08 sfpd forms for new and modernized school projects.
DTSC
We have experience with the DTSC process for the California Department of Education site approval requirements. Recently, we assisted the Owner’s consultant to obtain the DTSC site approval letter for a five acre elementary school site in Long Beach. This urban site had contamination from a long departed dry cleaner and a soil remediation process was completed. We reviewed the PEA (Preliminary Environmental Assessment), RI (Remedial Investigation) and all comments from DTSC. We met with DTSC to expedite approval and coordinated the design to mitigate DTSC concerns.
Local Fire Authority/Local Governing Agencies
Any project that requires review by the Division of the State Architect will need local fire access approval prior to DSA approval. We have successfully secured approvals from all local fire agencies for every project we have submitted for DSA review. In addition, we work with the local fire authority to provide for necessary improvements of an existing college’s infrastructure. When local governing agency approvals are required, such as Public Works or Water Department projects, for example, we have an equally successful track record in the necessary coordination and implementation of these requirements.