CESA feels they’re a good fit for Cornell project

Luke Schultz, CESA, spoke Sept. 23, about how their team is all local and works with the community, when a building project takes place. The Cornell School District is considering hiring CESA for facility management, to help guide possible construction of a new/renovated high school building. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

It’s still up in the air, who will act as a facilitator of a building project at the Cornell High School. Previously, the board of education heard from another company, about what they would provide the district, but at the Sept. 23 meeting, CESA 10 was present to discuss facility management.

CESA’s mission is to provide safe, healthy and efficient environments for school districts. When tackling a building project, they try to provide a good starting point toward what the district has in mind/needs.

The first thing, is to start with a facility audit, to see what the overall scope of the building looks like and areas to improve. If Cornell decides to go with CESA, they will not only line up bids for the work, but also manage advertising, which includes digital and social media, yard signs and a website link to the scope of work.

CESA also manages the finances, to make sure a district gets its money worth, as well as establishing a committee to determine what the project will look like. Members of the committee would include district staff, retired community members, parents, those without ties to the district and even student advisers.

It’s kind of fun to hear their perspective, sometimes,” said Lindsey Schreiner, CESA facility adviser. “We like to get the community involved, pretty much from the very beginning.”

Once the committee is formed and they’ve identified needs, such as a secure entrance and a properly vented basement chemical room, public meetings are held, to get a feel for what the community would support, then send out a survey, for residents to choose what option would be good for their district and the tax impact.

Since the costs will be too much for the district to fund on their own, the taxpayers will have to either approve or vote down an operational referendum.

That means the voters of the school district would agree to exceed the levy limit set by the state on their taxes.

“Your community is going to tell you what they will support and what they don’t want,” said Schreiner.

Luke Schultz, CESA director of facilities management, asked only one thing of the board members and that is to listen to the community. In his experience, referendums fail, because the school district disregarded the voters’ wishes.

It was agreed that the fanciest model of school building isn’t what the school board is after – they want a safe, secure and functional space for students to learn, and staff to reach their potential.

“I think we’re more conservative and basic around here,” said Cornell superintendent Paul Schley.

Right now, the district is “slow walking” on their way to construction, as they gather input from staff, which is why they haven’t made a snap decision on who to hire as a facilities manager. If Cornell decides to retain CESA as project manager, it was promised that local contractors would be given every opportunity to submit bids and that the board would have a say in each phase, without too much oversight, reaching a happy medium.

“I like the idea of being able to be more involved with some of our local people,” said Schley.

Only bringing in architects and engineers when necessary, CESA also saves on project costs and it’s a benefit that they are well familiar with the district, with their team within an hour away.

It was agreed to come to a decision on who to retain at the annual meeting, the end of October.

“We feel this is a great fit for our team,” said Schultz.