Recent Hire Adds Momentum to School Facility Improvements

July 1, 2025- The Inyo County Office of Education (ICOE) has hired a Director of Facilities to develop, plan, and implement short and long range facility plans at Bishop Unified School District, Owens Valley Unified School District, and Lone Pine Unified School District.

Back in November of 2024, Bishop, Owens Valley, and Lone Pine all requested the local voters approve bond measures to fund facility upgrades and new builds on their campuses. All bonds were approved by voters; 62% voted in favor in Lone Pine; Owens Valley Schools voters passed the bond with 65%; and 64% of people eligible to vote voted yes on both of the separate bond measures for Bishop schools. All the schools have a basic wish list of improvements including, but not limited to, replacing leaky roofs, repair or replace inefficient heating/AC systems, renovating classrooms, restrooms and other school facilities. In addition, the purchase or lease of more property for new school facilities was not ruled out in the bond measures.

ICOE and the three district Superintendents made the decision to streamline all projects    by jointly hiring a single director of facilities to handle all the bond work. According to ICOE Superintendent Barry Simpson, “we needed someone with the correct knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as someone qualified to succeed at a CASH academy. “The CASH Academy is a mandatory training to guide people to through the intricacies of school facilities and construction. This Academy features training on topics ranging from school facilities planning, financing, the educational design process, and public school construction,” said Simpson.

The job was flown, and local Kristen Loven was the successful applicant. Loven, a Bishop High School graduate was previously employed by Cal Trans as Facilities Manager for Cal Trans District 9. She has worked at Cal Trans in a number of progressively more responsible positions since 2012. Her post-secondary education began right here at Cerro Coso Community College, continued at Truckee Meadows and concluded at Career College of Northern Nevada.

BUHS Superintendent Katie Kolker recently spoke about the hiring of Loven. “BUSD is excited to welcome Kristin Loven as our new Facilities Director. Kristin brings a wealth of project management experience and a proactive approach to leading the district’s facility improvement bond projects. With Kristin at the helm, we’re thrilled to be getting this show on the road and making long-overdue improvements that will benefit students, staff, and our entire community.” Owens Valley Superintendent, Rosanne Lampariello echoed those sentiments. “Owens Valley Unified is delighted the Inyo County Office of Education has created a new Facilities Director position and hired Kristin Loven to assist with our facility modernization process. As a very small school district, our limited fiscal resources would have made it impossible for us to fund this position on our own, without a significant impact to our budget. Kristin will be an incredible asset to our district as we begin our Measure T facilities improvements.”

Loven first day of work was June 1.