McDonald's School Building Committee Special Meeting

The McDonald's School Building Committee held a special meeting to review refined schematic design work for the new school, advance the schematic to the construction manager for cost and schedule estimates, and approve an invoice from the design firm TSKP. The committee unanimously voted to move the schematic design forward and approved the submitted invoice. Note: the transcript states the meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, while the timestamp provided for this record is September 16, 2026 (11:00 UTC); this summary uses the provided date.

Consent Calendar

• Draft minutes from the regular meeting of August 25, 2026: Motion by Councilman Felt, seconded, and approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public offered comments. The chair opened and closed the public comment period with no speakers.

Discussion Items

• Schematic design presentation (design team): The design team presented the first building-representative massing, moving beyond the earlier "bubble" program diagrams. The scheme refines the program distribution shown on August 25, incorporating feedback from committee members and from meetings with Marco and Colleen, the school principal. A slope of less than 1 in 20 was cited, the design maintains three distinct access/control points to the building, and program elements are located to serve the kindergarten rooms.
• Special education rooms: A request for folding/bifold partitions was discussed. A committee member asked whether a solid wall would provide better acoustical isolation for confidential conversations with social workers and school psychologists; the design team agreed and will use a solid wall.
• Historic building and exterior materials: The design team stated that the new addition cannot copy the existing historic building; the brick palette will use different colors in the same family, with no exact match. Randall said the existing front facade is especially attractive and expressed a desire to maintain that look. The design team also thanked Chair Daniels for comments. Members discussed using the same material so that weathering will match over time.
• School-based health clinic: The clinic is currently planned to use main-office check-in, with the clinic across the hall. The design team will ask the clinic whether a separate entrance/exit would be valuable.
• Other design points: The general music room was placed in the existing building so the multi-wythe masonry works in its favor; energy modeling will help identify heat-loss issues, as with the track-facing facade on the Beaman project; and custodial closets were discussed, noting that some existing buildings had no space for shelving and supplies.
• Cost estimate confidence: In response to a question from Patrick about significant changes to elevations and materials, the design team said the estimate is a point-in-time view; gross square footage and the material palette are not expected to change, though facade arrangements may shift.
• Schedule and public communication: A request for an updated schedule to share with the public was raised. The design team said the timeline depends on the approvals process and the number of public hearings required. A committee member voiced concern about prior schedule slippage, noting the target date had slipped by roughly a year. The chair emphasized that every week matters and that front-loaded decisions help with the city approvals timeline.
• Historic commission risk: A member noted an earlier understanding from the former superintendent that the new building would "mesh in nicely" with the existing building. The design team acknowledged the goal but said the current design does not yet do so, and noted a schedule risk if the historic commission cannot tell which part is original versus new.
• Meeting cadence: The chair proposed a recurring two-meeting-per-month cycle (a regular meeting plus a mid-month web meeting), with the mid-month meeting canceled when not needed. Members were asked to bring their thoughts to the next regular meeting.
• Construction manager update (Joe): No formal update was given. Joe reported that the CM and design team have been meeting about the schedule and preparing to put the schematic in front of estimators; changes going forward are expected to be less major.

Invoices

• TSKP invoice #2514033 in the amount of $140,250 was presented and approved.

Key Outcomes

• Unanimous vote to advance the schematic design to the construction manager to develop cost numbers and schedule dates; no nays or abstentions.
• Approved TSKP invoice #2514033 for $140,250.
• Agreed to use a solid wall rather than a folding partition between special education spaces for acoustical isolation.
• The vision statement was deferred and will be on the next regular meeting agenda.
• The next regular meeting will include an agenda item on whether to adopt the mid-month "swing" meeting cadence.