New administration buildings are open at Mountain View and Los Altos high schools after facing delays

New administration buildings are open and operational at Mountain View and Los Altos high schools, though construction crews are still working on the final items needed to complete both projects.

The new buildings act as anchors for each high school, housing not just administrative offices but a student union space and places for therapists and academic counselors. Mountain View High’s kitchen and cafeteria is also located in the new building.

The buildings were originally meant to be finished in time for the start of the school year on Aug. 9, but various construction delays pushed back that timeline. Los Altos High’s administration building wasn’t done in time for the first day and instead opened the following Monday, Aug. 14, Associate Superintendent of Business Services Mike Mathiesen said. Mountain View’s administration building was close enough to being complete that it was open on the first day.

While students and staff are now using the buildings, final tasks are still being finished, including paint touch-ups, landscaping and configuring electronic door locks, Mathiesen said in an interview last week.

“With all these construction projects, they’re never easy behind the scenes,” Mathiesen said. “But there’s tons of excitement, joy (and) gratitude when you see them being used.”

Also called the student services buildings, the projects were paid for with the $295 million Measure E bond that voters passed in 2018.

Despite the construction delays, Mathiesen said that he believes both projects will end up within budget: $36.85 million for Mountain View High and $32.18 million for Los Altos.

According to Mathiesen, various factors conspired to slow down the projects, including delays receiving materials, a painters’ union strike and issues with contractor availability as the timeline got pushed out.

“It’s a lot of little things all adding up,” Mathiesen said.

Other bond-funded projects

The student services buildings aren’t the only bond-funded construction projects going on in the district.

One of the other major, recently completed projects is the new home for Freestyle Academy, a two-year art and digital media program. Freestyle used to be housed in outdated portable buildings. Its new campus, located behind the district office, is operational this fall, though some finishing touches remain, Mathiesen said.

At Mountain View High, art and science classrooms were modernized over the summer, with new roofs and lighting added, Mathiesen said. The campus is currently in the midst of renovating its 500-wing classrooms, which will ideally be done by the end of the fall semester, though that may slip into the new year, Mathiesen said.

At Los Altos, 400- and 500-wing classrooms are similarly being renovated. Two new classrooms and an office for the athletic director are also being constructed next to the pool in place of an old custodial storage shed.

The district has other potential bond-funded projects that it could take on in the future, including library modernization, gym modernization, turning Mountain View High’s old cafeteria into a drama and choir room, expanding Los Altos’ kitchen and food prep area, and adding more classrooms.

Many of these projects date back to the original passage of the bond measure and Mathiesen said the district plans to re-evaluate them to determine what work is still needed and how to prioritize remaining funds.

The district is also applying for roughly $30 million in state funding to reimburse certain construction costs, which could be used to pay for future projects, Mathiesen said.