Grossmont Union High School District

Project Value: $860M
Market: Education - K-12

For more than a decade, covering three consecutive bonds (Proposition H, Proposition U, and Measure BB), Gafcon, Inc. has provided a variety of staff augmentation services including project management, project controls, outreach, and labor relations in support of the District’s bond program focused on revitalizing 11 campuses. The scope of work includes upgrading educational technology, rehabilitating aging classrooms and facilities, improving safety and energy efficiency, and constructing a new high school.

Gafcon, Inc. works closely with District staff and the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) on managing the bond program and implementing the District’s Master Plan. We were key to the Board’s confidence in proposing Measure BB—a $128M facilities bond. The measure passed in 2016 with the full endorsement of the CBOC, which is a direct result of reporting tools and controls systems established for Propositions H and U by Gafcon, Inc. team members.

Additionally, Gafcon, Inc. brought together District staff and a panel of experts to develop an automated web-based software to prequalify bidders, saving the District several hours to review each application. With Gafcon’s assistance, the District has been able to dramatically expand the number of local contractors bidding and winning contracts for school facility improvements, ensuring that many of the tax dollars used to fund the bond stay in the local community. Our robust contractor outreach program has resulted in 30-50% of our contract dollars going to local contractors.

The most important aspect of Gafcon, Inc.’s partnership with the District’s bond program is the trust and confidence our work inspires in the school board and in the community. Gafcon, Inc. assisted the District to secure reimbursement funding from the State of California Environmental Hardship Program. Funding is extremely difficult to obtain due to strict requirements, but the team secured $8.1M of supplemental funding for the capital improvement programs.