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Berkeley students heading back to class Wednesday can expect cleaner, greener campuses, but when they step inside some school buildings rust and dirt will still prevail. 

“I think we’re making very good progress,” said district superintendent Michele Lawrence as she helped parents and students sweep clean the high school grounds Saturday morning. 

“When I arrived we had almost every safety issue imaginable: pipes sticking out, ruts in the sidewalk, holes in playgrounds, electrical problems.” 

Voter largess has been key to sprucing up the schools. In 1992 and again in 2000 voters approved ballot measures adding more than $300 million in new property taxes earmarked for school maintenance. 

The district has used the money to retrofit and remodel 14 of the 16 schools, and the crown jewel of the construction boom, the new King Middle School, was premiered for residents Saturday. After two years spent housed in portable classrooms, the school’s approximately 800 students will move into a totally remodeled building. Total price tag: $20 million. 

This winter, Berkeley High School students should reap their own benefits from the building boom. Two years in the works and eight months late, the new library, dining hall, gymnasium, and dance studio being built along Milvia Street is expected to be ready for students by the start of 2004. 

While some high school buildings will be state of the art, others remain in a state of disrepair. A walk from recently renovated Building G to untouched Building C feels like a trip to the wrong side of down. 

“This place is kind of funky,” said PTSA Facilities Committee Chair Bill Savidge leading a tour through the blighted building. He said the structure’s electrical system needs overhauling, the bathrooms require retrofitting, fixtures need to be replaced and some sinks don’t work.  

For high school seniors who entered the school just after the B Building burned down, the campus they will leave next year will bear little resemblance to the one they entered. 

This year the blacktop that has covered the ground where the B building stood will finally be ripped up in favor of a grass courtyard, the only sod on the entire 17-acre campus. Trees and seedlings will also be planted. 

Craigmont Elementary and King Middle School will also have new courtyards, said John Crockett, the district supervisor, who said progress should be evident to any visitor. “When I came to this district it was really bad,” he said. “We had weeds up to our necks on a lot of sites and 20 dead trees that could tip over.” 

Since he took over the job three years ago, the district has used money from the voter initiatives to help beautify the campuses by raising the district gardening staff from three to eight. 

But step inside the buildings and the remaining problems become evident, in large part because maintenance funds cannot pay for custodial needs. The district was forced to lay off two high school custodians this year, and maintenance dollars come from the district’s general fund, which is $5 million in the hole. 

New high school principal Jim Slemp complimented the staff on getting the buildings ready for the students, but acknowledged the school was shorthanded. “Things won’t get fixed as fast and there will be less preventative maintenance,” he said. 

Students helping to clean the campus Saturday said they didn’t expect the buildings to stay clean for long. 

“It gets really filthy,” said senior Nico Smith. “Some classrooms don’t get swept, it’s bad.” She and her friends, though reserved special disdain for the bathrooms. “They are disgusting, vile, repulsive,” said senior Christine Cutillo. “You’re lucky if you have paper.”