Los Gatos High School Principal Trudy McCulloch, as well as her staff, was not pleased when the recent information was brought to light by contractors. The business, music and art wing—or "middle building"—at the school is under renovation thanks to funding from the $79 million Measure B bond, passed by the voters in 1998. The teachers whose classrooms are in this building moved all their classroom belongings into temporary portables this spring. They were already packed up and prepared to move into their new classrooms in mid-July when they learned they'd have to extend their stay in the portables until Sept. 24.

"It's going to be very tough for everybody," McCulloch said. "But we're all professionals, and we'll make it work."

McCulloch said the office staff in the administrative wing, which is next in line for renovations, were also already packed and ready to move temporarily into the new community room above the girls locker room. But they won't be moving until after school starts, which McCulloch said is going to force everyone to be resilient and adapt, working out of boxes if necessary.

Richard Meyer, the school district's director of building projects, confirmed McCulloch's explanation of the delay on the reconstruction project.

"It's been bumped to the end of the September, with the contractor claiming lost days—additional days to do his portion of the work due to unanticipated debris removal from the first contractor. The first contractor handled the asbestos abatement for the district," Meyer said. "This, on a domino effect, has caused a rescheduling of teachers moving in midsummer to the end of September."

Bob Peterson, the district's director of administrative services and chief business officer, explained the cost of the project is not going to increase just because the move date was changed. Rather, it's because the first contractor was late in completing his portion of the project, and it has forced a delay upon the second contractor.

The second contractor, Fedcon General Contractors Inc., was the lowest responsible bidder—at $12,042,000—for the project. It was awarded the contract in February, and the entire project is expected to be completed by late 2005. The project includes upgrades to the performing arts hall and theater and modernization of the administration, cafeteria and main school buildings, plus changes to the business, music and art history buildings.

Meyer said the delays are related to asbestos abatement being more extensive than originally expected. The more asbestos that was torn out, the more design work was needed by structural, electrical and mechanical engineers to address the problem. In some cases, Meyer said, contractors had to go back to the state to get approval of structural items related to dry rot and mold that had to be abated, ripped out and repaired, including water seepage in the art history wing.

"This dispute would be around 67 days of delay the contractor is claiming," Meyer said. "Our position is we feel that some of those days are going to be allowable and some will not."

District officials and Fedcon representatives spent June 24 in negotiations over the cost associated with the additional scope of damage amid delays. As of press time, the additional cost of the project had not been finalized, Peterson said, but he estimated it would range between $100,000 and $200,000. He added that reference checks of Fedcon indicated it has completed past construction projects at other school districts on time. Meyer stressed the complex project has monthly checkpoints, and the school staff will be kept updated on its progress.