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Dover teachers and parent outline outdoor-learning plan; design firm offers $7,080 conceptual plan
Summary
Teachers and parents described five years of work on a Dover Intermediate School outdoor-learning campus; a landscape design firm offered a $7,080 conceptual design to create outdoor classrooms, pollinator gardens and circulation improvements to help the school secure construction funding from the community.
Dover Intermediate School teachers and parents briefed the Westlake City Schools Board Monday on plans to expand outdoor learning at the Dover campus, presenting a multi-year effort that now seeks a coordinated design to attract community funding.
Parent Tiffany Garcia and teachers described student-led pollinator gardens, informal learning elements such as log seating and nature trails, and community volunteer support. "We now have 3 beehives at our house. We've been learning a lot about it, provided honey for our neighbors," Garcia said, recounting community spillover from the classroom pollinator work.
The nut graf: Teachers and volunteers said philanthropic and grant funds have paid for physical materials but that funders rarely cover professional design services; a conceptual plan would allow the school to pursue larger grants and business sponsorships.
A presenter who identified his firm as the Paddy Group described a conceptual design and offered to provide a non-bid design package for $7,080. "For this design work ... I presented a design agreement at $7,080," the presenter said, describing a package of base plans, conceptual diagrams and 3-D images suitable for fundraising and community outreach. The presenter said the firm would offset direct staffing costs and that typical commercial proposals could be twice that price.
Teachers and parents said they have raised more than $50,000 in grants and in-kind donations but have struggled to find funders to pay for landscape design, permitting and contract documents. The group discussed prioritizing a detailed plan to enable phased construction, volunteer-built elements and corporate sponsorship placards that would encourage donations.
Board members asked about implementation, cost ranges for construction, and whether the district could complete or phase the work during school breaks. The presenter said the concept design creates a roadmap: with a plan in hand, materials donations and volunteer labor could create visible improvements before full construction budgets were secured. He gave a rough design-labor estimate of about 100 hours of staff time billed at $150/hour as a comparative baseline but said the Paddy Group would provide the conceptual scope for $7,080.
Ending: Staff and board members agreed to follow up on the design proposal and community fundraising approach; no board appropriation was approved at the meeting.
