Maintenance staff members at South Lane School District are the ones behind the scenes cleaning in and around the schools while also maintaining the extensive landscapes, lawns and fields. Our staff maintains nine school sites, plus four other buildings (district office, warehouse, transportation department and maintenance facility). The total acreage of all 13 sites is 267 acres. At the Taylor Street property where Kennedy Alternative High School is located, the district owns and maintains the pool, the old weight room (now South Valley Athletic Office), current softball field and a maintenance shop. The rest of the Taylor Street property is co-maintained with South Valley Athletics on a contracted basis.

Our oldest school facility is London School, which was built in 1912 and added on to in subsequent years. In 2000, Cottage Grove voters passed a $25.9 million bond to build a new Cottage Grove High School, and it opened its doors in 2003. The average age of our buildings is 55, with our oldest school structure over 85 years old.

The district currently owns about five acres of vacant property at Latham School, 30 acres at the south end of Bohemia School, less than one acre at Harrison School, approximately five acres at Delight Valley School and about 65 acres at Cottage Grove High School west of "R" Street. The district has cleared the land and is bringing in dirt to construct a baseball facility at the southwest end of the "R" Street property. Funding for the baseball field is incomplete, with another $150,000 needed to complete the facility as designed. The district is contributing some funding and has also received a contribution from the Faye and Lucille Stewart Foundation. The current baseball facility on Kelly Street is owned by the City of Cottage Grove.

Facility and Site Plan

The district's Facility and Site Plan includes a schedule of future projects, organized into three categories:

• Immediate Projects (0-3 years) -- Includes many annual maintenance items such as roofing, painting, electrical and floor coverings. In addition, this category includes projects where funding has been identified and the need is immediate.
• Intermediate Projects (3-7 years) -- These projects don't affect the immediate health and safety of staff and students but are approaching that standard.
• Long Term Projects (7+ years) --These projects are inevitable, but the funding tends to put these projects off into the future. They are not immediate safety or health concerns and aren't likely to occur due to funding or planning before 7 years.

The district's goal is to fund as many action items as possible from the Facility and Site Plan in a given year. The availability of resources shall determine how much of the action plan is accomplished. The plan will be reviewed and revised each year to make adjustments based on available resources. The district will seek additional funds when available to help support the plan.

"The wise school board knows that while the education of students is its first priority, maintaining the facilities within which students are learning is also an important stewardship responsibility. A safe and healthy environment can support learning." 
Rickabaugh, 2003