District facilities team outlines $100M+ projects and advises against costly pitched-roof conversions on existing campuses

The Alisal Union School District’s facilities update on June 24 covered completed capital work, active construction and a cost-benefit analysis on roofing choices that concluded converting existing flat roofs into pitched roofs is generally cost-prohibitive.

Associate Superintendent Rais Abasi told trustees the district has completed more than 100 projects in recent years including new buildings and site modernizations, installed air conditioning in classrooms (reported cost cited), added 12 electric-bus charging stations and is actively building additional classrooms and a performing-arts studio. Abasi said the district has raised $7.7 million toward purchase of land for a permanent boardroom and maintenance yard.

On roofs, Abasi said external consultants and structural engineers advised that converting existing flat wood-frame roofs to pitched roofs requires major structural work—supporting walls, foundations and seismic retrofits—and is therefore expensive. "The cost of replacing a flat roof is 2.2 million... If we want to add the pitch roof, the cost of construction is 9.3 million at least... another estimate said this can be as much as $20 million," he said in his presentation, using the Martin Luther King campus as an example.

Trustees asked whether pitched roofs can be included in future new construction; staff said yes for projects still in design, but mid-construction changes cannot be made without restarting approvals with the Department of State Architects, the Office of Public School Construction and the California Department of Education. The board and staff also discussed roof-audit frequency (staff currently conducts an annual audit; trustees suggested semiannual checks) and a teacher’s report of mold/dampness in a Frank Paul classroom, which staff said will be followed up through the district work-order system.

Why it matters: the roofing analysis affects long-term capital planning and whether the district will prioritize pitched roofs on future new-school construction or continue to maintain and replace existing flat roofs where they already exist. Projects underway include new TK classrooms, relocatable classrooms, roofing replacements and a planned repaving of the transportation yard.

Next steps: staff will continue current maintenance and audit practices, incorporate pitched roofs in future new-construction designs when feasible, and follow up on the reported mold/moisture concerns via maintenance work orders.