Students and staff benefiting from renovations and upgrades at
area schools have taxpayers to thank.
Students and staff benefiting from renovations and upgrades at area schools have taxpayers to thank.
Measure S was passed in March 2002 by Aromas and San Juan Bautista voters to renovate and build new buildings at Aromas and San Juan schools and Anzar High School. The measure received 63 percent voter approval with only 55 percent needed, in accordance with Proposition 39.
Proposed renovations include:
-Anzar High School – Construction of a transportation/maintenance building on campus that would act as a bus barn to house the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District buses. Also, the building would house offices for maintenance and transportation workers who are currently stuffed into administration offices at San Juan Schools, said district superintendent Jackie Munoz.
“It will open up space in the San Juan School administration area. It’s very crowded,” she said.
Construction is expected to start this month and be completed by July.
-Aromas School – Renovation of four wings of the campus. Also planned is the construction of a new gym and parking lot, but these have been stalled because of the discovery of liquefied subsoil, Munoz said, which will require a more substantial foundation for the gym. Work on the project will start later this year.
“Not enough can be said about adding a gym to that campus,” Munoz said. “Intramural sports will definitely be enhanced.”
Aromas School was built in 1948 and is the oldest campus in the district. It has 11 permanent buildings and 14 portables, meaning the campus has more than doubled in size, Munoz said.
Construction is expected to be completed in December.
-San Juan School – Renovation of all classrooms except for the newer middle-school classes and the gym. The original buildings need handicap access, upgraded bathrooms and more storage space, Munoz said.
Another kindergarten room will be built. Currently, there is one kindergarten classroom on campus.
“It’s taught in a portable with no (running) water. There are no bathrooms,” Munoz said. “It’s distracting when the little ones have to walk outside to the bathrooms.”
Also included is the renovation of the bus loading zone. “The loading zones will be a tremendous enhancement to the school to keep kids safe,” Munoz said.
Renovations are scheduled to start in June and take six to eight months to complete.
In June 2002, Measure S bonds were sold at $50 per $100,000 assessed property value instead of the proposed $60 per $100,000. The district will receive $1.2 million from Measure S and combine that with $1.7 million from Proposition 47 to fund the construction and renovations, Munoz said.
Under the stipulations of Proposition 39, districts are required to appoint a citizens’ oversight committee comprised of community members whose purpose is to review and report on the proper expenditures of taxpayers’ money for school construction and to review efforts by the district to maximize use of bond revenues and comply with legal requirements stated within Proposition 39. The group meets monthly and reports to the ASJUSD Board of Trustees regularly, Munoz said.
Each campus also has a site construction committee composed of teachers, support staff, parents, administrators and the district’s architect, Kasavan Architects in Salinas. The committees have worked on construction details to ensure that renovation and construction meet the needs of the students and staff, Munoz said.
For more information, call Munoz at 623-4500.
