The overwhelming sentiment at a public forum this week on
Gavilan College expansion was that residents desire the temporary
campus close to downtown, with an outspoken group citing preference
for the old Leatherback Industries site on McCray Street. Students
said they wanted expanded program offerings in San Benito, such as
a dental hygiene programs, science and astronomy labs, and a campus
close to where they live.
The overwhelming sentiment at a public forum this week on Gavilan College expansion was that residents desire the temporary campus close to downtown, with an outspoken group citing preference for the Leatherback site on McCray Street. Students said they wanted expanded program offerings in San Benito, such as a dental hygiene programs, science and astronomy labs, and a campus close to where they live.
More than 70 community members turned up to the meeting July 19 hosted by the Gavilan College Ad Hoc Committee on Off-site Educational Centers to gather input on a temporary expansion site for the community college.
“A significant number of students in San Benito are enrolled at the main campus,” said Trustee Kent Child, referring to the Gilroy campus. “We’ve exceeded the capacity at the Gilroy campus and at the Briggs building.”
Child added that one-third of the students enrolled in Gavilan College are from San Benito County.
The discussion of a temporary site has come up because Gavilan College trustees and staff are looking to expand class availability in San Benito County so that they can get 500 full-time equivalent students, which would then allow the area to achieve educational center status. The step is required before the college can become eligible for capital construction money to build on their permanent site location on Fairview Road. Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella said the Briggs building houses 280 to 300 “FTE” students.
“We need to have a site to generate 500 FTEs,” Kinsella said. “No decision has been made. There is no favorite project. We are looking for information. It is a blank slate. It is completely open.”
The point of the meeting was to gather public input on preferred locations for the temporary site – which trustees pointed out may be used for upwards of 20 years until the full campus on Fairview Road is built out. The 80-acre site was purchased in 2007 for $8 million – $100,000 per acre for the 80-acre lot. The purchase of the site was funded through Measure E funds, which were approved in March 2004.
The Ad Hoc Committee includes trustees Elvira Robinson and Child, of Hollister, and Laura Perry, of Morgan Hill.
“We have to double the location we have,” Robinson said, adding that the board would like to create partnerships in the community and have a presence downtown.
Perry said one of the options discussed is putting portable buildings on property the college already owns, such as the Fairview location.
“It’s sort of the last thing we want to do,” she said. “There’s almost no difference between driving to the main campus.”
Robinson said she has heard that there is some interest in keeping the temporary site running even after the full campus on Fairview Road is complete. Kinsella said the state chancellor’s office, which governs community colleges, allows for a full campus and multiple education centers in close proximity.
“The community college district can have as many campuses as it can support,” he said. “Full campuses have to be 10 miles apart. There is no requirement for educational centers.”
Kinsella said that one of the biggest challenges facing a permanent and temporary site is that the location has to meet Title 24 building standards for earthquake safety, which he said even buildings from the mid-1990s may not meet. In order to use an existing building, the trustees have to have a structural engineer sign off on it and if they use a new location, they may have to do trenching to assure the location is not on a fault line.
For the full story see the Pinnacle on Friday.
