It’s outrageous, disconcerting and extremely disappointing: The
Gilroy Unified Unified School District underestimated construction
costs for a second high school by $66 million.
It’s outrageous, disconcerting and extremely disappointing: The Gilroy Unified Unified School District underestimated construction costs for a second high school by $66 million. With an original construction estimate of $39 million when Measure I was approved by voters in 2002, the new estimate of $105 million is nearly triple the amount voters were told.
The huge new numbers come with a warning that they’re not completely solid.
Measure I, the $69 million school bond, included lots of projects. But the star of the campaign – the reason we believe voters approved it – was the promise of a second high school. And, given the overcrowding, discipline and academic issues that plague Gilroy High School, a second high school ought to be the school district’s top priority.
But instead of making sure the bond paid for the top priority, a new high school, before moving on to other projects, GUSD officials chose their own path. They completed needed, but not top-priority projects first, and then when they finally got around to working on the high school, found that they were $66 million short – nearly the amount of the original bond.
Exactly when did district officials know that $39 million wasn’t even within a country mile of the actual cost of constructing a new high school? Likely long before it became public.
That’s unfortunate because it lends an aura of distrust to the district’s relationship with the community.
In any case, it’s an outrageous situation. And for administrators who are demanding accountability and excellence from students, teachers and other employees, it’s time for some accountability for this horrendous miscalculation.
School district trustees owe the public a clear and thorough explanation. How did this trust-eroding error occurr? And what steps will be taken to ensure that it never happens again? In addition, any employees who shirked their duty to taxpayers should face serious condequences.
Trustees must tell administrators to find the money to build Christopher High School without going to residents for another bond or a parcel tax or any other way of passing the buck to taxpayers. GUSD promised a list of projects to taxpayers in return for passing Measure I, and they must find a way to deliver. Not building the high school punishes the community – and, in particular, its students – for this administrative snafu. Asking taxpayers for more money punishes residents who put their faith in administration promises. Neither is acceptable. The only acceptable solution is to find a way to build the high school with the available funds, and for the administrators who are responsible for this mess to take responsibility and bear the consequences.
Anything less would be hypocritical in light of the GUSD’s own emphasis on accountability and excellence.
