Initial contract is awarded for new
$10.6 million elementary school at Rota
By Scott Schonauer,
Rota bureau
Scott Shonauer/ Stars and Stripes
Michelle Rodriguez teaches math to her first-grade class at David Glasgow Farragut
Elementary at Naval Station Rota, Spain. |
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — David Glasgow Elementary School
doesn’t look too bad on the outside.
But on the inside, hidden in the ceiling and walls, the naval
station’s 42-year-old school is like an aging two-pack-a-day smoker with heart
problems.
The plumbing and wiring aren’t in the best of shape, and a day
doesn’t go by that something doesn’t break or work exactly right.
“You know when everything gets old, it starts to fall
apart,” said Gary Edsall, the school’s principal. “It has been here for a
long time.”
But not for long.
The Navy will build a $10.6 million elementary school as part of a
larger project that will include a new high school. The first phase of the elementary
school contract was awarded to a Spanish construction firm earlier this month. Money for a
new high school has not been approved.
Workers will begin remodeling the campus youth center, known as JAMS,
which will move into another building to make way for the new school.
Although construction will require administrators to consolidate
classrooms and create some headaches for teachers and parents, Edsall said the new
building will be safer, have more modern equipment and larger classroom space.
A new building has been in the works for years. The Navy initially
considered remodeling the school but determined it would cost less in the long run to
build a new building.
More than 600 students are enrolled in kindergarten through sixth
grade at the school.
Kathy Taylor, who has three children attending the elementary school,
said the naval station needs a new school. Some of the building roofs leak when it rains.
There are cracks in the walls. In some of the smaller classrooms, there are not enough
working electrical outlets to run equipment.
While the Taylor family’s tour in Rota likely will be over
before the completion of the new building, she said she is glad teachers and students will
get a new place.
The two-story school will have classrooms with additional electrical
outlets, more than double the number of computers, a new multipurpose room, cafeteria and
media lab.
Unlike the current school, which is spread over several buildings,
the new elementary school will be in one building. It also will have enclosed hallways
instead of open-air breezeways.
Beth Peris, a first-grade teacher who has worked in Rota for nine
years, said having hallways will make it easier to supervise students.
The building also will look better, Edsall said. Architects designed
the school so it blends with the Spanish-style homes in base housing. It also will have a
landscaped courtyard with a view of the high school football field.
While the school might be easy on the eyes, it could get ugly during
construction.
Some classes will be moved to portable classrooms to make way for
construction. The campus multipurpose room will be closed, forcing some after-school and
base activities to move to other venues.
Some of the high school’s athletic teams also will have to find
another place to practice. The new school will shut down the football field.
It will take 3½ years to complete construction.
“This is going to affect everybody,” Edsall said.
But, at least, “when they turn something on in the new school,
it’s going to work,” said Phyllis Fuglaar, the assistant principal.
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