Property: Sixteen (16) sites selected by HUSD
The Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) is comprised of 23 Elementary schools, five Middle schools, three High schools, an Alternative High School, English Language Center, Adult Education Center and child care centers for pre-school children. The District has over 20,000 students in grades K-12 with diverse cultures, heritages, languages, and economic conditions. HUSD believes that education must be a “community obsession” to provide a safe learning environment for all children.
Unique Challenge
The District had already successfully passed a bond that led to the construction of a new school and the significant renovation of five others. They now wanted to continue to build on this momentum of creating a 21st century learning environment by updating their Demographic Studies and Facility Master Plan, and analyzing the merits of proceeding with a second Improvement Bond. The District was also facing declining enrollment and continual budget cuts, and needed to develop secure income streams to augment revenues.With these goals in mind, the District solicited a Request for Proposal (RFP) for evaluation of their assets as a means of transitioning to this more efficient and effective model that would provide educational opportunities for students. The District’s initial and primary focus was on potential long term lease(s) of pre-selected schools, but, based on recent state legislation allowing Districts to use one-time funds realized through the sale of surplus assets for use in their General Fund, they were also open to potential land trades, partnerships or sale of assets.
Solution Provided
After being selected through the RFP process, DCG performed an exhaustive analysis of the sixteen (16) sites identified in the RFP that included, but not limited to, alternative land uses, highest and best use, stakeholder and policy leader engagement, market valuation (lease revenue and sales proceeds), disposition strategies and preferred land use and property recommendations.Based on our findings, DCG was charged with conducting further review of five (5) properties, as well as analysis of opportunities available for the District Office and Maintenance and Operations Yard. Through a thorough investigation and engagement with other project consultants, DCG was able to recommend strategies that best met those objectives as detailed in the original RFP, including opportunities for community partnerships with both the City, Park District and County. As the District hired a new Superintendent in the midst of their work, DCG also recommended an “operational pause” to these recommendations until such time as the new Superintendent could foster support of the Board and other Key Stakeholders.While the financial benefits of leasing and/or selling underutilized assets were significant in terms of their ability to meet District goals as stated in the RFP, perhaps the greatest benefit was the ability of DCG to work with the City, Park District and County to develop key community partnerships (that would be key to garnering their support for other District goals) and collaboratively working with the new Superintendent to meet broader organizational goals.
