This summer, Burlingame plans to modernize classrooms as part of the Classroom Transformation Project. Teachers must be out of their classrooms by Friday, May 29, at 3 p.m. The project is funded by Measure L, a $385 million obligation bond approved by voters in 2020 to facilitate capital facility improvements across the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). The bond recently funded the construction of the school’s gym. Alongside Burlingame, the Classroom Transformation Project is also taking place this summer at Capuchino High School.
According to SMUHSD Director of Facilities and Construction Charlie Royce, the plan at Burlingame includes replacing flooring and ceiling tiles, switching non-dimmable LEDs to dimmable LEDs, repainting classroom walls, redoing teaching walls, adding two whiteboard walls per classroom, and upgrading Wi-Fi by replacing fiber-optic cables.
While classroom items are expected to be cleared out by the end of May, the operations team began removing items over eight feet high in mid-April.
With many expected modifications to the classrooms, chemistry teacher Joshua Dyl said he was concerned about whether the construction would be completed by the beginning of next school year.
“[What] I’m really worried about is they’re starting construction the day we leave, and they’re supposed to be done by the first day, a couple days before we’re back next year,” Dyl said. “And I kind of doubt it’s gonna be ready.”
Freshman Revell Garner said the classroom renovations could improve students’ comfort and ability to concentrate during class.
“The classroom having dimmer lights and better flooring will make the learning experience better, and the lights will make it so much easier to focus on things and not have your head hurt all the time,” Garner said.
While some students are in favor of the project, others feel that resources spent on classroom development would be more beneficial elsewhere.
“It’s worth the effort to improve Wi-Fi and the lighting,” freshman Avalon Harbin said. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with the floor or the ceiling. I think that could be used for better projects and stuff. But I like that they’re trying to improve things.”
Despite concerns surrounding the construction, Royce said Cahill Contractors, SMUHSD’s contractor for Burlingame, has organized and divided the various classroom renovations into disposal, electrical, and renewal work groups to ensure an efficient project.
“The schedule that they’ve mapped out has every four days they’re in 10 classrooms, so they’ve divided up their work groups into seven work groups,” Royce said.
Along with transforming classrooms, SMUHSD plans to construct 23 new parking spaces at the front of the school over the summer, funded separately from the obligation bond.
Next school year, Burlingame also expects to welcome around 50 more students than the typical class size, which will mean shifting classroom sizes and hiring new staff.
“We have a staff lounge that I’m intending on making smaller in order to make the rest of it into a classroom,” Principal Jen Fong said. “And we have A206 upstairs, A208 is a little bit small, so we’re intending to move the wall between A206 and A208 to make it so one of the rooms is very big, and one of them is very small.”
Fong said the Classroom Transformation Project and the plans to address increased enrollment are unrelated, and attributed the latter to recent housing construction in Burlingame.
“The community of Burlingame opened up mixed-income housing over the last couple of years, and that’s caused an increase in the population of the Burlingame neighborhood, which is then going to cause an increase in enrollment at Burlingame High School,” Fong said.
Currently, Burlingame’s maximum class size is 35 students. According to math teacher Sonny Lau, classes reaching this size create minor challenges for students and teachers.
“For math, I really think it’s a subject where students require a personal touch at times,” Lau said. “So with more students in a class, then it’s a little harder to assist students within their personal needs. But overall, the amount of students in a class is still within the acceptable range.”
Previously, Burlingame used classroom sharing to keep the number of classes below this maximum threshold. However, Dyl said sharing has negative effects on teachers.
“There’s probably no positive effects,” Dyl said. “When I share a room, there’s somebody in here when I might normally be setting up labs, when I might be grading stuff, when I might be getting things together.”
With numerous facility changes underway, SMUHSD Facilities Manager Joey Tipton said his workload has increased this school year due to the newly constructed gymnasium, but he is prepared for the year ahead.
“I feel like we are [as] prepared as we can be,” Tipton said. “There’s always gonna be something that pops up and that we are gonna have to troubleshoot and work around. I like the challenge.”
