SFUSD and OCII update commission on Mission Bay Elementary design, play yard funding and construction schedule

The commission received an informational update on Sept. 20 on the San Francisco Unified School District’s planned Mission Bay Elementary School (Block 14, Mission Bay South).

Gretchen Heckman (OCII) and SFUSD staff described the site-transfer-in-escrow milestone between UCSF and the district and said design work is proceeding in detailed design toward 100% documents. SFUSD’s schedule anticipates site surcharging and hazardous-materials cleanup to begin in November, a groundbreaking event on Oct. 27, 2022, and construction start in December 2023 with a target school opening for the 2026–27 school year.

Design-build lead Bolivar Puyol (McCarthy DLR) described program elements retained after cost-reduction work: a pre-K through fifth-grade elementary school serving roughly 500–550 students, a rooftop STEM-focused linked-learning hub for high-school students, a multipurpose room for school assemblies and community events, and an educational garden added to the program. The project reduced the previously proposed schematic design by about 24,000 square feet, bringing the building to approximately 82,000 square feet while preserving core educational spaces and a community-accessible play yard.

OCII and SFUSD explained the play yard scope and funding: the Mission Bay South development agreement designates the master developer to build certain infrastructure, including a 1.5-acre play yard; for coordination the district requested to construct the play yard itself and submit reimbursement requests to be funded by the Mission Bay South Community Facilities District (CFD). Because the reimbursed scope will be funded by OCII-jurisdictional (CFD) dollars, the play yard contracting is required to adhere to OCII’s SBE goals. SFUSD said the project is being delivered via design-build (McCarthy/ DLR), which shifts certain cost and schedule risks to the design-build entity; reimbursement agreements will include change provisions to address unforeseen events.

During public comment, multiple neighborhood advocates, residents and community benefit district leaders praised the project and urged OCII and SFUSD to keep the schedule on track so the school can open in fall 2025–2026, citing petitions and letters of support. Commissioners probed several topics: school safety and access-control measures given design transparency and one-way observation glazing; air-quality mitigation and enhanced filtration (a mitigation measure in the environmental impact report); the multipurpose room dimensions (confirmed at about 65 by 60 feet, ~3,600–4,000 sq ft, with a warming kitchen); the educational garden and ongoing maintenance (to be operated by the district, potentially with garden educators and PTA support); local-hire/PLA and SBE compliance for the play yard scopes (play yard scope will be subject to OCII SBE goals; SFUSD has a PLA for bond work and the design-build contract includes the stated price and change provisions); and parking (no increase in on-site parking).

SFUSD confirmed the program capacity remains approximately 500 students; the district plans to phase in grades rather than open at full capacity. Commissioners encouraged ongoing outreach and asked staff to come back as the project moves to construction documents and invoicing for reimbursable scopes.

The item was informational (workshop); no action was taken.