Modular Classrooms Installed at Roseburg High School

Three portable buildings were installed on the Roseburg High School campus this fall and students and teachers should transfer into them in November. This will move the final six of the 20 teachers and their classrooms out of the Heritage Building. The Roseburg Public School Board made the decision in June to empty the heritage building as part of the three top goals for the district following the 2022 Bond Measure not passing. In a work session in May, Board Chair Rebecca Larson said the Old Main or Heritage Building was a safety and security concern. Board Member Dr. Brandon Bishop said the issues in the building are pretty glaring. The board chose to purchase the three buildings and asked Roseburg High School Principal Dr. Jill Weber to figure out how to get students and staff out of the building. In the meantime, the board is working on a bond to put before the community which addresses the most urgent safety and security issues; Security entrances School-wide - $16 million, Rebuilding the Heritage Building - $30 million, and Renovation and Repair District-wide which includes HVAC, roofing, plumbing, and electrical - $37 million. “We were tasked with finding space to rethink things and to try to figure out how to move people as quickly as we could knowing that we didn't have space on campus to hold everyone in that building,” Weber said. “We had to be super creative to make all the spaces work to make that. That space in there was just not conducive to learning. The teachers are feeling it when they are in the new spaces, they really can tell a difference in the students' engagement in classes and even their own feeling at the end of the day. The noise, the lack of climate control, the smell, all those things. I'm excited for those teachers who are left in there to move into their new space so they can see that difference.” The buildings are nearly ready with walkways, asphalt, ramps, and interiors, but need power before the teachers can move in. The only things that will remain in the Heritage Building are the weight room and a clothes closet which is open only a day or so a week or by appointment for students who might need clothing. “We just don't have a space for the weight room at this point,” Weber said. “We have some plans for the future if the bond passes. We have some thoughts on what that could look like.” The Board was clear they wanted to begin immediately working on making campuses more secure, and voted to use $8 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding and up to $3 million in ending fund balance to get the work started. This is funding for the perimeter fencing, security vestibule design work, and the student migration out of the Old Main. Completing the secure entrance projects would require the district to borrow funds unless a school bond is passed. The quote for the Modern Building Systems portable classrooms was $547,695 with additional costs for electrical work, ramps, permits, etc., which increased the expenditure to approximately $700,000. The vote to purchase the buildings passed unanimously.