After a multi-year construction period, El Rodeo Elementary School is scheduled to reopen on June 30, 2024, for the 2024-2025 school year. At the Jan. 31 Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education meeting, consulting and management firm Fonder-Salari provided construction updates for the five buildings that make up the El Rodeo campus. According to the district’s bond manager, the modernization project is coming in on time and under budget by about $1.3 million of the original budget, which was estimated at $166 million. The Santa Clarita-based Fonder-Salari replaced the district’s former bond manager, Team Concept Development Services, in July of 2022.
Located in the western region of the district, El Rodeo is the district’s third elementary school.
First constructed in 1927, the modernization project began the summer of 2019, and included demolishing the interior of the five buildings.
“Since I joined the BHUSD team in September 2022, I have observed ProWest and Fonder-Salari, Inc. make great strides to complete the modernization at El Rodeo Elementary School,” Will Karrat, Executive Director of Construction Services, told the Courier. “Currently, ProWest and their subcontractors are at various stages of construction at each of El Rodeo’s buildings. Some buildings are at the lath and plaster and ceiling installations stage, while other buildings are receiving flooring, paint, and other finishes. We are thrilled that the timeframe has not changed, and we are on track for the substantial completion of construction by the end of this calendar year with final completion and turnover to the district occurring in the spring semester of 2024.”
Building A, which houses the auditorium, music classrooms, and offices, will have plaster applied by next week, and most of the walls have been painted in building B, which includes kindergarten classrooms and special education classrooms. Painting continues at building C, which includes the cafeteria, classrooms, offices and the media center, and is anticipated to be ready between the end of April and mid-May. With the exception of flooring and some whiteboards, almost everything is installed at building D, which includes classrooms and locker rooms, and is expected to be ready at the end of February. With flooring being installed in the coming weeks, building E, which houses classrooms, officers, the library, learning center, and computer labs, is “95% complete.” New structural components installed include HSS steel, concrete walls, fiberglass reinforcement panels, and modern mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components.
Staff are working with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) to modify the future soccer field in order to accommodate the AYSO soccer games. “It’s kind of a win-win situation that improves the getting of an official system for soccer, also for improving for the school side as well,” Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy said at the Jan. 31 meeting.
Shade structures will be on the north side and the west side of the soccer field, with a special play surface instead of black asphalt.
