What’s next for YHS buildings?

Thursday meeting is opportunity for public to speak up

yosemite high school district

6/22/01

The Yosemite Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Thursday [June 28], starting at 6:15 p.m. in the boardroom of the Administration Building to hold public hearings on two important issues.

This meeting will be the public hearing for both the 2001-02 budget and to set priorities for the construction project at Yosemite High School. The project is funded through an $11.76 million bond measure that voters passed in June of 1998.

“Because of a change in the matching fund rules at the state level, we are faced with some serious decisions regarding our construction project,” says District Superintendent Bill McCabe.

When voters approved the $11.76 million bond for YHS, the state matched construction projects 100% on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, the project the district proposed had a price tag of approximately $23 million.

In November 1998, state voters approved a $9.2 billion bond for school construction. Of that money, $6.7 billion was to go for public schools; the rest was for state colleges. Of the $6.7 billion, $5 billion was distributed by January 2001.

YHS has received $3.4 million to date and has qualified for an additional $1.2 million in modernization money when the money is available at the state level.

All of the rules regarding state matching funds for school construction changed dramatically in December of last year. The state Allocation Board, faced with two lawsuits, voted to allocate the funds based on an order by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. This ruling requires the state to allocate the remainder of the bond funds through a priority point system.

Basically, this will give the rest of the state bond money to Los Angeles. All rural districts in the state are facing the same dilemma, notes Mr. McCabe.

Assembly Member Sarah Reyes, D-Fresno, introduced legislation early this year that would repeal the law that calls for establishment of a priority point system in the allocation of state bond funds.

However, the bill did not make it out of the house of origin by the June deadline, therefore it cannot be acted on until next January. A representative in Ms. Reyes’ Fresno office said a minimal number of bills cleared their house of origin in this year’s legislative session because all of the legislators’ efforts were directed to the energy crisis.

In addition to the loss of state funds, there were more environmental costs associated with the project than had been expected.

“The environmental issues were difficult for us to anticipate,” Mr. McCabe says. “We could not have studies conducted until after the bond measure passed because we did not have the funds. When the studies were concluded, we found that we had to buy into a wetland bank and we had to do far more work in the streambed on campus than we had expected.”

A number of groups are meeting to make recommendations about construction priorities. The district management team, the Superintendent’s Council and the Citizens’ Bond Advisory Committee will meet prior to the Thursday board meeting.

Mr. McCabe presented several options to the board members at their regular meeting last Thursday. He asked that they study those options prior to the public hearing next Thursday.

“By the June 28 meeting, I will have received input from a number of groups and the board members will have had time to study the various options,” the superintendent said. He invites the public to the June 28 meeting to listen to the options and to express their opinions. The board members will be asked to vote on the priorities at a meeting in early July (date to be announced).

“This is a community project, funded by the community, so it is important that we make the district priorities the same as the community priorities,” Mr. McCabe said.

What’s finished

So far, the following projects have been completed at YHS with the bond funds:

1 — Cafeteria / multi-purpose room is completed and will be open to the students when school starts in August.

2 — The locker rooms have been modernized and expanded to meet the needs of the student population.

3 — The Library/Media Center has been moved into a completely renovated building and features a computer laboratory, career center, classroom and an extensive collection of books.

4 — The science classes meet in a renovated building that includes complete laboratory facilities.

5 — The district administration and high school administration offices are all in one office at the front of the campus, allowing easy public access. In the past, the offices were located in different buildings on opposite ends of the campus, causing considerable inconvenience for members of the public who needed to conduct business with the school and/or district.

6 — A new parking area has been built that will allow adequate parking for students during the school day and for the public during special events. The parking area is accessed by a bridge built to strict state standards.

What’s planned

This summer, work is underway to remodel the building that is used for auto shop classes, welding classes and woodshop classes. These classes are located in one of the open space classrooms originally built on the campus in the 1970s and, according to Mr. McCabe, it was a very difficult environment for students and teachers.

Floor to ceiling walls will be put in this summer, making separate rooms for each of the three classes. “This will be a tremendous help to these programs,” the superintendent says. “This building has always been the worst learning environment on campus.”

There are still a number of projects that were promised to the public during the bond election, but there are not currently funds to complete everything. “We are seeking public input as to what are the most important projects to complete,” Mr. McCabe says.

Projects not started are: performing arts center and classrooms, swimming pool complex, 23 new classrooms, a new well, athletic fields, re-surface tennis courts, energy project (including co-generation plant), road extensions, agriculture facility (barn, classroom and fencing), alternative education program facilities, track expansion, concession buildings on the football field, remodel two existing buildings, re-roof all of the original buildings on campus, re-asphalt the campus and padding for the wrestling room and basketball courts.

The estimated cost for all of these projects is almost $13 million. “We currently have $2.6 million left in our bond account,” Mr. McCabe says. “Clearly that is not enough to complete everything we had planned.”

District Assistant Superintendent/Director of Business Services Steve Carney will present the 2001-02 budget to the trustees June 28.

Based on a recent news story noting a possible $500 million reduction in state funding for education, Mr. Carney says the budget, at this point, will be tentative at best. “Until the state solidifies its budget, we can only estimate what funding we will ultimately receive, so we have to be prepared to modify our budget at a later date, depending on what the state does,” he said.

“This is an extremely important meeting,” Mr. McCabe says. “Input will be taken for decisions that will guide the direction of YHS for the next several years. I hope people will come out and let us know what their priorities are and make any suggestions they may have.”

Checking options

District personnel have explored a number of avenues of alternative financing for the projects. “We will keep looking for other sources of funds,” Mr. McCabe says. “We will look for grants, we will explore any possible donations to the project, we will look at low interest or no interest loans.”

Funds from developer fees can be used to repay any loans the district might incur for the construction project. “We are carefully projecting our income over the next 20 or 30 years from developer fees and will determine what we could re-pay from those funds,” the superintendent said. One of the options he will present to the trustees and to the various committees is that the district borrow money to complete the preferred option and re-pay the loan with developer fees.

Anyone who would like to comment about the construction project, and who is unable to attend the meeting, can send their comments in writing to: Bill McCabe, YHS Construction Project, 50200 School Road [427], Oakhurst 93644.