Submitted by Denair Unified School District

A state law that restricts the use of portable school buildings will require the Denair Unified School District to move its administrative offices into three spare classrooms.

The offices of the superintendent and his staff and the chief business officer and her staff currently are in two relocatable buildings on Lester Road adjacent to the elementary campus and across the street from Denair Middle School. The oldest building was installed in 1980 and the other in 2001.

But a state law that went into effect in September 2006 says that any portable buildings in which teachers or students spend even a short amount of time cannot be used as school facilities after Sept. 30, 2015.

District officials intend to modify three adjoining elementary classrooms. Partitions dividing the rooms will be removed and new offices created for Superintendent Aaron Rosander, Chief Business Officer Linda Covello, Senior Director of Student Support Services Michelle Bush and their administrative staffs.

Covello expects the project to cost about $35,000 and be completed by the time school resumes in early August. The money will come from a restricted maintenance fund that has $60,000 in it carried over from last year.

“This is isn’t our choice. Our space is working for us. We could stay where we are, but the state says we have to move,” she said.

Covello said the superintendent’s office could be repurposed into a space for the district information and technology staff because students have no need to go there. The other building is likely to be locked and fenced off.

The IT staff currently is housed in what used to be the Denair Elementary School Office, in the mid 1990’s.