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Earthwork
is being done on the site of the future 23-classroom building at Yosemite
High School. The building starts in front of the district office and
extends to the area in front of the library.
Land is being leveled at the front of the Yosemite High School campus
in preparation for a 23-classroom building. As soon as that leveling
project is complete, the equipment will move to the other side of
the campus to level ground for a swimming pool and soccer field.
The classrooms and pool complex are both scheduled for completion
by August 2004.
Other projects to be completed within the next 18 months include a
performing arts center, installation of an all-weather nine-lane track,
renovation of the football field, completion of baseball, softball
and soccer fields, a riding arena and completion of a music classroom
building.
A variety of funds are being brought together to complete the modernization
project at YHS that was begun in 1999.
In 1998, voters in the district approved an $11.76 million bond for
the school. The state has recently committed $7.8 million to the district
from the state bond measure that was passed two years ago. The district
has already received $4 million from the state as part of the match
of the local bond measure. Additional funds include $600,000 in modernization
money; a $1 million private donation for the swimming complex; a $100,000
grant for the track project; $100,000 federal renovation grant for
re-roofing; and developer fee funds.
“We have been extremely fortunate to be able to bring all of these
funds together in a timely manner to complete our projects,” says
District Superintendent Bill McCabe. “We anticipate completing all
of our projects within the next 18 months. At that time we will have
a campus that should serve our needs for the next 15 to 20 years.”
Construction is currently underway on a music classroom building.
It should be ready for use by the end of 2003. Once that building
is occupied, work will begin to turn the existing music / drama building
into a 400-seat performing arts center.
Work will begin after football season to widen the track and put down
an all-weather surface. The football field will also be renovated.
A $100,000 grant from the California Integrated Waste Manage-ment
Board will be used to help put the all-weather surface on the track.
The material will come from recycled California tires.
Work is continuing on baseball and softball fields; much of this work
has been done through private donations. A riding arena is planned
for the agriculture farm and it, too, will be completed largely with
private donations.
This past summer, two of the original buildings were re-roofed, replacing
the wood shingles with metal. Earlier, the library had been re-roofed.
Over the next two to three years, all of the wood roofs will be replaced
with metal.
At the completion of the current project, only one building on campus
will not have been remodeled. This is the art / home economics building.
Superintendent McCabe says it will be remodeled in the next three
to four years using developer fees.
McCabe says he is very pleased that all of the projects will be completed.
“When we finish our current projects, we will have delivered everything
we promised when we asked the voters to approve our bond measure in
1998,” he says.
He stresses that the funds being used at YHS are all from bonds, grants
and private donations and that money can only be used for construction.
“In this time of budget uncertainty, it may seem strange that we are
in the midst of a major building project, but this is money that can
only be used for construction. It is all money from bonds or grants
and cannot be used for any other purpose,” he explains.
He is also pleased with the private donations the school has received
for the various projects. “This money really shows a commitment to
education and to our local students,” he says. “When people are willing
to give their own money to a project such as this, it tells you that
they place great trust in the school and the community and that they
are willing to do everything they can to help our students.”
Yosemite High School was built in the mid-1970s and was never completed.
The purpose of the 1998 bond measure was to complete the campus and
to modernize it. “When we complete this project, we will finally have
a facility that matches our programs,” McCabe says. “We have excellent
programs for our students, now we will have excellent facilities for
them as well.”
McCabe says this entire project has been a community effort, from
passing the bond to the private donations. “The facility belongs to
the public,” he says, “and all of our facilities will be available
for public use. Those of us fortunate enough to be here while all
of this is happening are just the caretakers, it all belongs to the
taxpayers."
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