Construction on Colony Oak Elementary School is expected to begin later this summer.
How much of it appears questionable at this point.
At Monday’s Ripon Unified school board meeting, CFO Khush Gheyara of CFW Inc. indicated that given the expanded scope of the voter-approved Measure G project, the prevailing inflationary environment over the past 18 months — for example, Deanna Shirlock of the Escalon-based CT Brayton & Sons construction observed bids increasing by more than 15 percent since January — in turn, pushing reconstruction to be conducted in two phases.
He added that the future phase on state or other legally available funds.
“The first phase will be a functional campus, as defined,” Gheyara said.
 Trustees were none too thrilled to hear the preliminary feasibility analysis by the project team recommending that most site work and some of the buildings being completed in phase one and the remaining building construction taking place in phase two.
Ernie Tyhurst was greatly concerned. “We had a schedule — we need to keep our promise to our voters for a whole campus (for Colony Oak),” he said.
His colleague Kit Oase called for special meetings, if necessary, as bidding continues for remaining components of the project.
Gheyara noted that $8.8 million was available construction, estimating total with inflation at $11 million. He’s hoping for state aid funds become available at some point so that “all phases and components of the project will be completed concurrently,” he said in his report.
Some of the early construction will be that of the preliminary site work. This includes the new sanitary sewer system and well along with demolition, grading and paving, and utility piping and fencing.
The plans of turning the kindergarten- through eighth-grade school to a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) campus includes costs associated with improvements to newly purchased land.
That. along with a combination of parking lots and playground equipment, were also mentioned as being pushed back to the later phase plans.
Measure G got the OK from voters in 2012, paving the way for reconstruction of Weston Elementary School and paying off the existing Certificates of Participation debt.
Colony Oak is the third part of the $25.2 million general obligation bond.
The board is working towards delivering as much of a completed campus similar to that of Weston, which, Shirlock said, was also conducted in two phases.