The Gilroy Unified School District has churned out a grand list
of future projects with a price tag of $135.7 million, but has not
yet secured the necessary funds to finance its master plan.
The Gilroy Unified School District has churned out a grand list of future projects with a price tag of $135.7 million, but has not yet secured the necessary funds to finance its master plan.
Thursday night the board of trustees, Superintendent Deborah Flores and Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Steve Brinkman conducted a study session to review the list of the district’s short- and long-term facilities and review funding options to support future projects. A large chunk of the price for these projects will be financed through local funding.
After reviewing the list of future projects, the board and district staff moved on to the question that many Gilroy taxpayers will be asking: Where will this money come from?
State funding will provide $9 million, a conservative estimate “but we want to be safe,” Brinkman said. An additional $6 million will come from the sale of a piece of land in north Gilroy now used as a school farm. A whopping $120 million will be financed by what is labeled “local funding” on the Facilities Master Plan. While district staff continues to investigate opportunities for increased funding sources at state and local levels, several bonds, developer fees and grants fall under this umbrella category.
The district received approval from the board to borrow up to $18 million in the form of Certificates of Participation as a way to chip away at its $15 million facilities debt. The COPs borrow money against future income and will be paid back over the next 30 years with developer fees.
Taxpayers will be the biggest source of local funding and Measure J, which was approved by Gilroy voters in 1992 to upgrade local schools, will expire in 2011. The district will need to replace it to supplant the funds taxpayers contributed as part of the local bond measure and is considering presenting voters with a successor to Measure J on the next ballot. Other sources of funding include ongoing developer fees and Measure I, a general obligation bond that provided $69 million in funding.
“We need $120 million and there’s really no place it’s coming from as of yet,” board member Francisco Dominguez said. “One avenue is to go for a bond. At election time, taxpayers will vote on whether or not they want to help.”
Rucker Elementary School can expect $5 million worth of updates to its campus in the form of a new six-classroom wing and modernization of its existing classrooms. The money will bring Rucker in line with newer elementary schools in the district. Flores pointed out that Rucker’s multipurpose room was inadequate for the number of students attending the school. Also, other components of the infrastructure needed work before the school opens its doors to the influx of students expected with future development growth.
“We’re not just going to continue adding classrooms before we do something about the multipurpose room and other parts of the infrastructure,” Flores said.
Board member Jaime Rosso agreed with Flores, pointing out Rucker’s inadequate facilities in comparison with the rest of the district. “We’re already busting out of the seams as it is now,” Rosso said. “We need to think ahead, not in a piece meal way when we have no resources to draw on, but address the big picture needs now. It’s not too early to start.”
The district aims to align the middle schools as well, and plans to devote $5 million toward upgrading Brownell and adding a science wing. Another $5 million is budgeted for growth development for all middle schools.
Ascencion Solorsano Middle School received 68 transfer students this year who came from other middle schools, said principal Sal Tomasello. During the study session, Brinkman identified the transfer of students from one school to another as a contributing factor toward the district’s facilities issues. Currently, parents can transfer their student out of a school deemed “program improvement” and the district must accommodate them.
Board member Denise Apuzzo said that the public perception of the middle schools impacts enrollment and “there will be even more kids next year who will be transferring out of Brownell to Solorsano.” The district and board has identified this as a problem and hopes the projects for Brownell will alleviate the problem so that “no one can use facilities as an excuse to transfer,” Brinkman said.
Phase II of Christopher High School’s construction will cost $70 million, brings the school to its 1,800 capacity and adds a theater, additional classroom and faculty parking.
The board will hold more discussions in January as to what they will present to taxpayers at the next election.
