Policy for Site Committee Involvement in Capital Improvement Projects
Berkeley Unified School District
June 21, 1995 (Retyped 9/24/02)

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Berkeley Unified School District (“BUSD”) in establishing site committees for its Capital Improvement Program include:
The following guidelines for the site committees are, therefore, intended to encourage considerable autonomy while maintaining accountability to the BUSD.

A. Site Committee Membership
  1. The Superintendent will designate either the school site principal or another educational professional as Site Committee Liaison for Educational Policy. The Superintendent will also designate an Interim Chair for Community Involvement, who shall not be an employee of BUSD.
  2. The Site Committee Liaison and Interim Chair, in consultation with the Superintendent, will supervise a public solicitation for faculty, staff, parent and community participation in the Site Committee. After review of the responses, the Site Committee Liaison and Interim Chair will nominate no fewer than six nor more than twelve additional Site Committee members, representing faculty, staff, parents, and community interests.
  3. The BUSD’s Project Manager for the site and a representative of the BUSD’s Education Division shall each be ex-officio, voting members of each Site Committee.
  4. Following an organizational meeting, the Site Committee shall elect a permanent Chair, to serve for a term of one year.
  5. Replacement members of the Committee shall be nominated by the Site Committee Chair and the Liaison for Educational Policy, with the concurrence of the Superintendent.
B. Conduct of Meetings
  1. All meetings shall be open to the public.
  2. Meeting dates, times and locations shall be posted at the offices of the BUSD and at the site at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
  3. The Chair shall call all meetings, shall conduct the meetings of the Committee, and shall designate a person to keep the minutes of the meeting. In the absence of the Chair, the Liaison for Educational Policy shall so act, unless the Committee shall have designated a Vice Chair.
  4. Minutes shall be reproduced and made available to all members and anyone else who requests them.
C. Committee Authority
  1. Site committees are advisory to the Superintendent. As such, their authority exists only through the Office of the Superintendent.
  2. Any direction to District Consultants (e.g. architects, engineers, construction managers) or contractors shall come only from designated District representatives. Site committees shall channel all requests through their designated District representatives.
D. Educational Program and Specifications
  1. The Superintendent, Associate Superintendent for Instruction, and Principal or designated educational leader, after input from the teaching staff and the community, shall meet and confer to develop a statement of educational goals and philosophy for a specific site for adoption by the Board prior to development of educational specifications for that site.
  2. Following adoption of the statement of educational goals and philosophy by the Board, the Associate Superintendent for Instruction and the Principal will work with the Site Committee and the certificated staff to develop a set of educational specifications tailored to the program for the specific site.
  3. Upon completion, the educational specifications shall be forwarded to the Superintendent and the Board for adoption.
E. Architectural Selection and Programming
  1. Architectural selection is described in detail in the applicable Board philosophy and accompanying procedures. The facilities division will forward several firms from the current pool to the site committee for review. The site committee may paper screen and interview the firms as necessary to make their selection. The assigned project manager will guide the site committee in the selection process and assist in evaluation of the firms.
  2. When a decision has been reached, the project manager will forward the site committee’s recommendations to the Superintendent and the Board for adoption. Firms will be notified and contracts negotiated by the facilities division.
  3. The Site Committee will work with the project manager and the architect to develop the adopted educational specification into an architectural space program for the project. Unless the Board grants a specific modification, the space program shall be in compliance with the BUSD Area Standards Policy and shall not exceed the square footage designated in the Facilities Construction Plan adopted by the Board in February 1995.
  4. The architectural programming should be completed within nine weeks for large projects. It is anticipated that the site committee will meet four to seven times during this period.
F. Schematic Design
  1. At the initiation of schematic design, the Board may hold a public hearing to express its desires as to the architectural character of the project. The architect and the project manager shall attend such hearing. Interested site committee members are encouraged to attend as well.
  2. During the schematic design phase, the design team will work with the project manager and the site committee to develop the size and character of space consistent with the responsibility of the architectural program. The design team will be responsible for keeping the project within the budget adopted by the Board and developed in detail by the project manager.
  3. At the conclusion of schematic design, the design team will present such drawings, renderings, models, or other media as necessary to adequately and accurately represent the proposed design to the lay public. After a brief review period for staff and public, the schematic design will be forwarded to the Board for discussion and approval.
  4. It is anticipated that on large projects schematic design will take approximately nine weeks. During this time there will be three to five site committee meetings.
G. Design Development
  1. During the design development phase, the design team will work with the project manager and the site committee to refine the individual spaces within the schematic design, to develop the mechanical, electrical, and structural systems, and to select all interior and exterior materials and components. The design team will continue to be responsible for keeping the project within budget. The project manager has the responsibility to redirect any decisions by the design team which jeopardize compliance with the budget or schedule and keep the Site Committee informed and involved with all changes.
  2. At the conclusion of design development, the design team will submit plans, specifications and any renderings, perspective drawings, or other media for review by facilities staff and other interested parties. A check will be done to determine compliance of the design with the educational objectives and the architectural program adopted by the Board. The site committee will be asked to “sign off” on all aspects of the design at this point, since changes after this will have cost and schedule impact.
  3. It is anticipated that on large projects design development will take approximately ten to twelve weeks. During this time there will be three to four Site Committee meetings.
H. Construction Documents
  1. During the construction documents phase the design team will produce detailed documents describing all building components, materials and systems. These documents are submitted to the Division of the State Architect for review. The design team will continue to be responsible for keeping the project within budget. Any substantive changes to the approved schematic design must be reviewed by the Site Committee, facilities staff, and approved by the Board.
  2. It is anticipated that on large projects this phase will last 18 to 26 weeks. Site committee involvement is minimal during this phase; no more than three meetings should be necessary.
I. Division of State Architect Review
  1. The Division of the State Architect will review the construction documents for compliance with Title 24 standards for seismic safety, access compliance, and fire safety. The process is estimated to take 18 to 26 weeks.
  2. Concurrent with DSA review, the construction documents may be reviewed by an outside peer review firm for coordination and constructability. The comments from this firm will be forwarded to the design team for its review and response.
  3. Also concurrent with the DSA review, a cost estimate will be obtained to ensure that the project design is within the approved budget. Any discrepancies will be referred to the design team for review, reconciliation, and possible modification of documents.
  4. Site committee involvement is minimal during this phase unless modifications need to be made to bring a project back within budget.
J. Bid and Award
  1. During this phase the project is put out for bid in accordance with the provisions of the California Public Contract Code. If the bids come in within budget, the Board will award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
  2. No site committee is necessary during this phase.
K. Construction
  1. During construction, the project manager and architect will serve as the sole District representatives in dealing with the construction contractor(s). All communications by District staff or site committee shall be directed to the project manager.
  2. Site committee meetings may be held on a regular basis at the direction of the chair for the purpose of updating the committee on construction progress. Such updates will be conducted by the project manager and architect.
L. Closeout and Occupancy
  1. At the conclusion of the physical construction, final inspections will take place and contracts will be closed out. Following an offgassing period, the District will occupy the building.
  2. Sometime during the first year of occupancy, the site committee will be asked to participate in a post-occupancy evaluation to determine the response of staff, students, and the community to the new or renovated facility. District facilities staff will lead this evaluation effort.