Latest delay divides Newport Coast parents

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT COAST -- While most parents are taking the latest in a string

of delays in the opening of a planned school in stride, many are asking

why the district was in a rush to open the campus last fall anyway.

“The big question is, what was the big hurry to open Newport Coast in

September if they weren’t sure it would be ready,” said PTA President

Denise Molnar, voicing the concerns she has heard from various parents.

“Why did they push?”

Although he called the original 365-day construction schedule

aggressive, Mike Fine, the district’s assistant superintendent of

business services, said district officials believed they would have the

new school, scheduled to open Sept. 5 with 350 students in kindergarten

through sixth grade, completed in time.

“It was a very aggressive construction schedule,” Fine said. “Had we

not had the window problems, in hindsight, we probably wouldn’t have had

it open Sept. 1. It probably would have been Oct. 1.”

Responsibility for all three of the major delays, Fine said, falls on

the Efco Corp., the window manufacturer based in Momett, Mo.

First, Fine said, the company didn’t deliver the windows when they

said they would -- twice. Then, when the windows finally arrived, the

district rejected them because they weren’t right.

The company’s promises of a timely delivery and mismatched product

have ensured they will have no shot at being hired again when the

district’s 29 other schools are revamped with the $110-million school

bond that was passed by voters in June, Fine said.

The latest delay, while the district waits for the replacement windows

to arrive at the construction site, is to be sure everything is completed

before students and teachers move in, Fine said.

“We want to have the campus done before we open -- 100%,” he said.

Fine also wants students and their families to have an opportunity to

visit the campus before the school opens and teachers have a chance to

set up their classrooms in leisure.

When the school finally opens its doors Feb. 26, the only things that

will need be done are fix-up items, such as repairing dents and chipped

paint, Fine said.

The new date, however, has parents divided. Some say they would prefer

students just stay at Lincoln Elementary School for the remainder of the

year and wait to move until the fall.

“I think they should slow down and take a look at what the advantages

are to moving in February as opposed to holding off until the next school

year and taking another look at traffic issues, particularly parking and

children crossing Newport Coast,” parent Steven Fink said.

Others say they understand the delays -- as most Newport Coast parents

are building new homes -- but they want to get the school up and running

as soon as possible.

“The school needs to be up and running,” said Allan Trider, whose

child was scheduled to attend the sixth grade at the new school. “It’s

there, its relatively done, we should utilize it.”