Azusa Unified is constructing four new classrooms at Ellington School this summer to accommodate a new eighth-grade class as part of the final phase of the school’s expansion from an elementary school to a K-8 campus. The District this summer is also installing a new roof at Center Middle School.

The $2.4 million projects, expected to be substantially completed ahead of students’ first day of school on Aug. 18, are the first to be funded under the District’s $92 million Measure K facilities bond, passed by local voters in November 2014.

“Our children deserve safe and engaging learning environments that support their continued academic and personal growth,” said AUSD Superintendent Dr. Linda Kaminski. “The launch of these projects is a major milestone in our vision for what Measure K will help us achieve in Azusa Unified.”

The approximately $1.6 million project at Ellington features the addition of restrooms and four new pre-manufactured classrooms, one of which will be used as a multi-purpose room for activities such as band or other extra-curricular activities for seventh- and eighth-graders. Construction crews have graded the site and installed the wood forms needed to begin to pour the foundation.

Over the coming weeks, workers will pour the foundation, anchor the classrooms, connect utilities and add finishing touches to the buildings.

At Center Middle School, about $825,000 in Measure K dollars will fund the replacement of the school’s roof, one of the District’s highest facility priorities.

“We are using the Facilities Master Plan to guide our decisions when it comes to identifying projects that need to happen first,” said Board of Education President Yolanda Rodriguez-Peña. “Ninety-two million dollars may sound like a lot of money, but we have so many projects that we want to complete for our students that we need to prioritize and best manage our funding.”

The District plans to replace school fences throughout the school year. Next summer, the District expects to upgrade underground utilities – such as water lines, sewer systems, storm drains and electrical conduits – from the point of connection to within five feet of buildings at select schools that did not receive such renovations under the last bond measure.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

ELLINGTON: Azusa Unified is in the process of building four new classrooms at Ellington to accommodate a new eight-grade class as part of the final phase of its expansion from an elementary school to a K-8 campus.

CENTER: A roofing project at Center Middle School is expected to be completed by the start of the school year.